Why the Senate Permitting Bill Isn’t a ‘Grand Bargain’

This week’s conversation is about the big energy policy story of the week – month? year? – which is the new bipartisan permitting deal in the U.S. Senate. As my colleagues and I were feverishly working on our mega-explainer about the bill , I rang up Josh Freed, founder of Third Way’s energy and…

First covered Sep 30, 2026 · 3:00 PM PT · 11 articles

Why the Senate Permitting Bill Isn’t a ‘Grand Bargain’ — Image via latitudemedia.com

Coverage

5h via Bluesky Why the Permitting Reform Bill is Bad for our Democracy and for the Climate — (In other words, here we go again…) Image Source: On Wednesday, a group of Senators introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA).

20h Inside Climate News Long-Awaited Senate Deal to Speed Permitting Faces Familiar Hurdles — The so-called “lame duck” session of Congress after November’s midterm elections could be momentous for clean energy as lawmakers are set to consider a…

20h CleanTechnica US Senate Proposes New Permitting Framework. Should It Become Law? — Sheldon Whitehouse is my favorite member of Congress. The junior senator from Rhode Island is smart, articulate, and determined.

21h Heatmap News Why the Senate Permitting Bill Isn’t a ‘Grand Bargain’ — This week’s conversation is about the big energy policy story of the week – month? year? – which is the new bipartisan permitting deal in the U.S. Senate.

1d Heatmap News The Senate Permitting Deal Contains a Data Center Double Tap — Call it the data center double tap. A wonky set of provisions in the Senate’s bipartisan permitting deal would rewrite federal electricity law to allow states…

1d Heatmap News The Climate Tech Winners and Losers of the Senate’s Permitting Bill — There’s seemingly plenty to celebrate in the Senate’s new 400-plus-page permitting reform bill , the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA.

2d Utility Dive Senate permitting bill would expand federal role in transmission siting — The legislation gives FERC authority to issue permits for transmission projects when it is in the public interest.

2d PV Tech US planning reform bill gets mixed response from clean energy groups — A US Senate bill proposing to speed up the permitting process for energy projects has received a mixed response from clean energy industry and advocacy groups.

2d Heatmap News The Senate’s Big Bipartisan Permitting Deal, Explained — It’s taken two presidential administrations, four years, and who-knows-how-many proposals that never saw the light of the Senate floor.

2d Canary Media Senate permitting bill could greatly expand power lines and clean energy — The U.S. Senate energy permitting bill unveiled Wednesday could streamline the buildout of high-voltage power lines across the country, potentially delivering…

2d Latitude Media Senators strike bipartisan permitting deal — The legislation marks a breakthrough after months of negotiations impeded by President Trump’s attacks on solar and wind power.

Primary sources

energy.senate.gov Heinrich, Lee, Capito, and Whitehouse Introduce Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 – U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources — cited by 4 of the outlets above

epw.senate.gov 90Be1C8B2A3760F46B099073E712886744E73Fa42Eebe05607E289C733B65Eeb.American Affordability And Jobs Act Text (epw.senate.gov) — cited by 2 of the outlets above

nytimes.com Data Centers Pollution Trump Ai Energy (nytimes.com) — cited by 2 of the outlets above

Related coverage

18h Latitude Media The permitting reform battle lines are being drawn

2d Heatmap News The Permitting Reform Bill Just Dropped

More coverage from around the web

washingtontimes.com Senate reaches bipartisan deal on permitting bill to speed approvals of new energy projects

bloomberg.com US Senate Reaches Bipartisan Deal to Speed Federal Energy Project Approvals - Bloomberg

ksat.com Senate reaches bipartisan deal on permitting bill to speed approvals of new energy projects

wral.com Senate reaches bipartisan deal on permitting bill to speed approvals of new energy projects :: WRAL.com

clickondetroit.com Senate reaches bipartisan deal on permitting bill to speed approvals of new energy projects

Discussion

Bluesky: @kbrigham.bsky.social Katie Brigham · 2d ago · 21 ♥ hi energy freaks, as you surely know, the senate has a permitting deal! heatmap explains! · @jeffstjohn.bsky.social Jeff St. John · 2d ago · 5 ♥ The Senate energy permitting bill unveiled Wednesday contains a raft of transmission permitting, planning and cost-allocation reforms that experts say could dramatically boost grid buildouts and clean energy capacity — if it can be passed into law:… · @kbrigham.bsky.social Katie Brigham · 1d ago · 1 ♥ permitting bonanza continues! i weigh in on the climate tech industries/companies that stand to benefit most from the senate's new permitting bill · @dangearino.bsky.social Dan Gearino · 5h ago · 19 ♥ My thoughts on the permitting reform bill being discussed everywhere. TL;DR: "this deal provides clear evidence that the US system is not designed to represent the people’s interests and not prepared to protect us from the dangers of our warming world."… · @dangearino.bsky.social Dan Gearino · 20h ago · 3 ♥ Making sense of divisions on permitting reform, by me and @mlavelle.bsky.social: insideclimatenews.org/news/0210202...

Appeared in: 2026-10-01 (#3) · 2026-10-02 (#8) · 2026-10-03 (#17)

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