FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23, 2022 Contact: Pablo DeJesus | info@uusj.org For The Sake of Environmental Protections, Leadership Should Allow the Senator Manchin Permit Deal To Stand Alone Washington, D.C.—Late Wednesday, September 21st, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, put forward the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022 (draft bill text)(summary), the official version of the previously leaked permit fast track proposal. The bill is expected to go before the Senate via the continuing resolution, this week or next, and would fast-track permits for projects such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline which Senator Manchin has long championed. While Hill staff, policy analysts, advocates, and activists are now working through the proposal, to enumerate differences and forecast impacts, the initial review of the official proposal suggests it is similar enough to the earlier leaked draft that carried the American Petroleum Industry (API) watermark. A proposal that advanced outsized benefits for the fossil fuel industry and severely undercut the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. If passed, it would render these protections all but ineffectual. In response to the leak, 650 organizations joined a letter hosted by People vs. Fossil Fuels, condemning the proposal. Signatories included Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice and the Unitarian Universalist Association, among other Unitarian Universalists. This preceded D.C. protests, which culminated in advocacy and witness events on September 8th, for the purpose of highlighting the true cost of the permitting fast-tracking side-deal to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, especially for frontline and impacted communities as Sacrifice Zones. Unitarian Universalists were present in solidarity and allyship. Subsequent to initial advocacy, 80 members of congress joined a letter by Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, underscoring concerns and calling to separate it from any must-pass legislative vehicle such as the expected continuing resolution. As an alternative to Senator Manchin’s proposal, Rep. Grijalva is offering the RESPECT Act, the Requirements, Expectations, and Standard Procedures for Effective Consultation with Tribes Act. It would require federal agencies to consult with Tribal governments before taking or permitting actions that would significantly impact them. ### Washington, D.C.—On September 22nd, Pablo DeJesús, Executive Director, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice joined advocates engaged in environmental justice advocacy and activism for a transition to a fossil-fuel-free economy, to voice caution regarding the permit fast-tracking proposal by Senator Manchin (D-WV), a side deal to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. "This fast-track permitting proposal by Senator Manchin continues a troubling tradition. It demands that indigenous and frontline communities, those struggling with the impacts, shoulder the true cost of fossil fuel and the extractive resource industry. Members of Congress and the Unitarian Universalist community should not be ‘gaslit' by the proposal. It does not substantively advance the cause of building more clean energy capacity," said DeJesús. "Rather it would allow large dirty or sloppily permitted energy infrastructure projects to sidestep community oversight and accountability while locking us into more of the same. This right at the moment when we must confront the climate crisis and our contribution to that crisis with the best forward-looking policy we can muster to move us towards a fossil-free posture. This right at the moment when we need a strong NEPA and Clean Air and Clean Water Acts." "DeJesús added: "The Manchin proposal does not meet F.A.I.T.H. principles as articulated by the Washington Interfaith Staff Community’s Energy and Ecology Working Group." "It fails to account for (F)rontline and vulnerable communities, to (A)ccelerate transition to clean green energy, to (I)nvest in climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure, or (T)ransition our workforce to clean energy jobs, nor does it (H)onor creation, our interdependent web of life, by following the science." "Unitarian Universalists can not endorse this proposal. The cost for too many American communities would be too high." "Congress must do better, and leadership should separate this proposal from any must-pass legislation. Let Senator Manchin’s proposal stand alone on its merits. Let every Member go on record to say 'yea' or 'nea' about this specific bill." "Better, if Congress sees the need to reform permitting procedure, it should come from diligent, inclusive, and considered work. Not a side deal that Members had no say in crafting. Not a side deal that communities had no chance to evaluate," said Pablo DeJesús. ### | 
