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Western Environmental Law Center

@westernlaw.org
3K followers 609 following 983 posts

We use the power of the law to foster thriving, resilient western lands, waters, wildlife, and communities in the face of a changing climate.

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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 43m
Without giving up any environmental protections? Bull. SHIT.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 1h
I'm throwing well-deserved shade at @whitehouse.senate.gov & @heinrich.senate.gov for the Senate permitting deal. We were betrayed. But don't forget this deal is built w/i a frame set by Joe Manchin in 2022 exploited by Trump, Sen. Lee (of public land sale infamy), & Sen. Capito.
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US Political Politics News 💙🌈🦋The Fighting Liberal @us-political-news.bsky.social · 1h
Democrats Abandon Environmental Laws to Advance Pro-Fossil Fuel ‘Permitting Reform’ Legislation Would Dismantle Protections for Hundreds of Endangered Species to Speed Approvals for Corporate Polluters ...
commondreams.org
Democrats Abandon Environmental Laws to Advance Pro-Fossil Fuel ‘Permitting Reform’
Legislation Would Dismantle Protections for Hundreds of Endangered Species to Speed Approvals for Corporate Polluters
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Friends of the Earth U.S. (Action) @foeus.bsky.social · 1h
Another day, another attack on the environment framed as "permitting reform"... foeaction.org/news/permitt...
foeaction.org
'Permitting Reform' Deal Hurts Animals, People & the Environment
Permitting reform rushed through a vote before the public has their say isn't a deal, it's a backroom sellout.
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Oil Change International @oilchange.org · 2h
We all deserve a voice in the decisions that impact our lives. The ‘dirty deal’ shuts communities out of decisionmaking spaces, particularly the Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities that are disproportionately harmed by polluting fossil fuel projects. bit.ly/4xY65zY
bit.ly
A Blatant Giveaway to Big Oil and Big Tech: Oil Change International Opposes Potential Permitting Bill - Oil Change International
The Senate may imminently announce a permitting reform bill that would gut bedrock environmental laws and enable a massive buildout of fossil fuel
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Oil Change International @oilchange.org · 2h
This "dirty deal" would raise electricity prices by accelerating the buildout of energy-guzzling AI data centers and liquefied natural gas export projects, raising demand for gas to levels that can only be met through more $$ production.
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Oil Change International @oilchange.org · 2h
‼️ Today, the Senate unveiled a permitting reform bill that would make it easier for fossil fuel + tech companies to steamroll community opposition to their polluting, climate-wrecking projects. This bill would benefit Big Tech and Big Oil, not working families.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 3h
Here's the view from the American West, far from the ruins of Washington, D.C. politics.
westernlaw.org
Five-alarm fire: Radical Senate ‘permitting reform’ bill threatens to eviscerate environmental, wildlife, water, climate laws - Western Environmental Law Center
The Republican-controlled Senate will soon formally announce a legislative “permitting reform” deal to speed the development of AI data centers and energy infrastructure. We expect the Senate will the...
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Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 3h
if @janeaflegal.bsky.social likes the permitting reform bill this much then god damn x.com/janeaflegal/...
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Rethink the Wolf! (Don't believe the myth!) @rethinkthewolf.bsky.social · 3h
Oh No! 😡 Please call your U.S. senator after you read this! Switchboard (202) 224-3121 It does take a village, and more, to create change‼️‼️‼️ westernlaw.org/5-alarm-fire...
westernlaw.org
Five-alarm fire: Radical Senate ‘permitting reform’ bill threatens to eviscerate environmental, wildlife, water, climate laws - Western Environmental Law Center
The Republican-controlled Senate will soon formally announce a legislative “permitting reform” deal to speed the development of AI data centers and energy infrastructure. We expect the Senate will the...
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 3h
@heinrich.senate.gov is at a press conference talking about doing this disastrous "permitting reform" bill being BECAUSE the SunZia transmission line took a long time to "permit." He is wrong about that. Here is the timeline: westernlaw.org/wp-content/u...
sunzia timeline
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LCV – League of Conservation Voters 🌎 @lcv.org · 3h
By gutting Utah’s public lands protections, Trump is destroying “irreplaceable cultural, historic, scientific, ecological and recreational value.” These lands are for us, not Trump’s cronies for coal and uranium extraction. Thank you for fighting back to protect our public lands, @lujan.senate.gov.
santafenewmexican.com
We keep standing up for shared monuments
The 1906 Antiquities Act gives presidents the authority to designate monuments, not destroy them.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 3h
Senate Dems Youtube feed is dead. It's on the Republican feed. Of course.
youtube.com
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 4h
STATEMENT: Five-alarm fire: Radical Senate ‘permitting reform’ bill threatens to eviscerate environmental, wildlife, water, climate laws The architects are hiding the text, but all reports indicate it's the worst 'permitting reform' bill yet, incredibly lopsided for AI data centers and fossil fuels
westernlaw.org
Five-alarm fire: Radical Senate ‘permitting reform’ bill threatens to eviscerate environmental, wildlife, water, climate laws - Western Environmental Law Center
The Republican-controlled Senate will soon formally announce a legislative “permitting reform” deal to speed the development of AI data centers and energy infrastructure. We expect the Senate will the...
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MB @mblaber.bsky.social · 11h
Why @heinrich.senate.gov thinks he should sell out our future when we’re so close to restoring a Congress that doesn’t require tragic compromises, I cannot fathom.
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Ted Zukoski @tedzukoski.bsky.social · 14h
This thread ⬇️
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 22h
According to all sources sneaking information out, this "permitting reform" bill will be the largest rollback of environmental laws in American history, affecting the Clean Water Act, NEPA, Tribal sovereignty, and more. All to benefit deeply unpopular AI hyperscalers and the fossil fuel industry.
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LiL'Silver @officiallilsilver.bsky.social · 22h
Tell Congress: Reject this "permitting reform" deal secure.ngpvan.com/IMfeKPTji0e8...
secure.ngpvan.com
CLIENT NAME
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
10. If you're in the climate, conservation, environmental justice space, share intel with partners. Raise a ruckus at the state level. Link this bill's harms to what's happening in your state, in your communities, in terms of tech, energy, and finance harms. We'll provide rapid response analysis.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
9. Light up the congressional switchboard, Senate & House. Do not wait. They are locking in votes now. And congressional offices are being inundated by industry lobbying, claiming they are not hearing progressive opposition. Stand and fight. Today. Congressional switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Democrats who help pass this bill will also betray trust with every one of these communities. Despite the fact that the data shows these communities care very much about environmental protections—care that cuts across ideological and geographic lines. U.S. Senators ignore this at their peril.
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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A huge problem for Democratic governance is lack of trust in the federal government. So Democrats should *definitely* help pass a bill that guts democratic participation in major infrastructure built in people’s backyards.
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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Either deregulatory permitting reform or we never build clean energy at scale is such a false choice.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
*Note, we're hearing that the bill text will be publicly released tomorrow.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
7. This permitting deal is far worse than prior permitting reform deals. It is a capitulation to the demands of the aligned AI tech, energy, and finance industries. And in so doing, it is a betrayal of people & place. More to come.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
6. @whitehouse.senate.gov & @heinrich.senate.gov will provide no assessment or awareness of the acute harms caused by unbridled tech (data centers) & energy (fossil fuels + renewables) to public lands, watersheds and wildlife, frontline & fence line communities.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
4. @whitehouse.senate.gov & @heinrich.senate.gov will justify the deal on the basis of the bill's estimated emissions analysis—i.e., a single, absurdly reductionist metric to consume the debate and sweep away acute harm to people & place and corporate defined arguments re: "affordability."
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
1. The Senate "permitting reform" bill will (likely) be released this week. 2. It is a data center & energy development bill, not a climate bill. 3. It will erode bedrock environmental safeguards—in particular the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
💯. And deal's provisions re: "certainty" & "parity" (tho language pending) won't solve problem either. Moreover, Trump's only committed to advancing 30 of 300 renewables projects. Bill proponents are already moving goal posts, contending it's to set stage for future POTUS, not check Trump.
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Revolving Door Project @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bad news for Exxon, and a win for the power of public pressure calling out the blatant corruption of the Roberts Court: Justice Alito is stepping down from further participating in Suncor v. Boulder, a week before oral arguments. We've been calling for his recusal from this case for YEARS: 🧵
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Like, even if you have Chris Wright and Doug Burgum and Katie Miller on board (big hypothetical). Trump could just wake up one day and blow it all up. Maybe somebody mentions "Solyndra" on Fox News. Or maybe he remembers his Scottish golf course. Or no reason whatsoever. Crazy roll of the dice.
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Jeff Hauser @jeffhauser.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Shot/chaser--more than three years of work from @HannahStoryB and others!
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Frank Macchiarola, before working at American Clean Power, was, per his LinkedIn, a fossil fuel hack, including at the American Petroleum Institute. Two main players driving the Senate's permitting deal are American Clean Power and the American Petroleum Institute. Connect the dots, people.
About
Chief Advocacy Officer of the American Clean Power Association (ACP), the leading trade association of the multi-tech clean energy industry. From 2023-2025 I served as ACP’s Chief Policy Officer. 

Earlier in my career, I was Senior Vice President for Policy, Economics & Regulatory Affairs at the American Petroleum Institute (API) and Executive Vice President of Government Affairs at America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA).

Per https://www.linkedin.com/in/macchiarola/
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 28/09/2026
Kudos to NM Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard for modernizing oil and gas bonding on state trust lands! This will help address the orphaned well crisis, protect New Mexicans' health/public $, and complements bonding advances we helped establish for other public lands in NM this year.
nmstatelands.org
Commissioner Garcia Richard Requires Stronger Financial Protections for Oil and Gas Development on State Lands | NM State Land Office
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
And to those who often set the pace of energy transition discourse, like @volts.wtf, if you don't want data center opposition to overspill its borders, a good place to start is opposing a permitting deal that is going to piss off a heck of a lot of people by bulldozing over what they care about.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
And for the love of all that is holy, call your U.S. Senator and Representative to oppose this noxious permitting deal: (202) 224-3121 And if you're a reporter on the ground in the West, please cover the implications of the Senate permitting deal to the lands and communities of the West.
abqjournal.com
Opinion: Heinrich urged to protect New Mexico lands
An environmental advocate warns permitting reform could favor data centers and fossil fuels over public lands.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Folks weakening the Endangered Species Act to lock in a permitting reform deal (looking at you, @whitehouse.senate.gov & @heinrich.senate.gov) do so at their peril. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Paper Abstract: ABSTRACT
Conservation professionals expect increased attempts to weaken the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the second Trump
administration. As such, it is important to understand Americans’ level of support for the ESA. Prior research indicates that
support for the ESA remained consistently strong across four studies conducted over a two-decade period, 1996–2015. The research
presented here extends those observations to six studies conducted over a three-decade period, 1996–2025. We find that support
of the ESA over that period has remained consistently high, at about 84%, and opposition has remained consistently low, at about
12%. We also report on other trends and patterns in support for the ESA, highlighting high and growing support for the ESA among
politically conservative people and the absence of any rural–urban divide in support for the ESA
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Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Major u-turn from Justice Alito as Supreme Court reveals he will no longer participate in the big climate change case being argued next week. Previously, the court told NBC News there was no reason for him to step aside despite his earlier recusal in same case.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Contending enviro NGOs won't say "yes" assumes that more development is the only goal & the only live question is "how fast?". That treats values-based judgments about what to build, where, & for whom as settled. But it isn't! It's contested space the permitting deal seeks to bulldoze over!
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The "yes or no to development" frame defines human infrastructure as the only acceptable form of climate action. ➡️ Defend public lands? That's just saying "no" to a data centers on those lands. ➡️ Keep wildlife corridors intact? That's just "no" to a fossil gas pipeline.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
FWIW, this isn't a throwaway line but the foundation of the permitting reform argument. Development is presumed self-justifying progress & any objection is castigated as "saying no." Even if the objection seeks to affirm natural assets such as watershed integrity essential to climate security.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Man, the framing of this bill is so rooted in insider DC politics. The idea that Ds have secured “major concessions”—i.e., a Trump promise to ease his oppo to renewables, esp. wind, which was lawless to begin with & unlikely to manifest beyond a handshake deal (not law)—strikes me as so bogus.
Politico: “Not dead yet: What’s next for permitting reform
Democrats are betting that they’ll be able to hold onto major concessions made by Republicans and the Trump administration with a vote after the election.”
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 25/09/2026
This is heartbreaking.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Key architects of the permitting deal such as @heinrich.senate.gov have prioritized tech & energy infrastructure over protection of special places such as New Mexico’s Greater Chaco—even though the Trump administration seeks to exploit public lands for AI data centers & fossil fuels. I am furious.
abqjournal.com
Opinion: Heinrich urged to protect New Mexico lands
An environmental advocate warns permitting reform could favor data centers and fossil fuels over public lands.
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Western Environmental Law Center @westernlaw.org · 23/09/2026
Is this #abundance? It's certainly the MAGA approach to "permitting reform," which must be stopped.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Read all of this.
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Erik Schlenker-Goodrich @riogranderift.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
No sure whether this implies anything regarding a permitting deal, but (and w/o taking a position on this proposal) I do very much appreciate @heinrich.senate.gov advancing a stand-alone transmission bill not saddled with deregulatory provisions undermining bedrock environmental protections.
latitudemedia.com
Exclusive: Heinrich proposes 30% credit for long-haul transmission
The bill’s introduction comes as President Trump suggests he’s willing to remove some barriers to federal permitting reform.
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Antonia Juhasz @antoniajuhasz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"We know that fossil fuel interests won't step aside on their own. For decades, Big Oil has treated the atmosphere as an open sewer -- and cashed in on the consequences," said United Nations chief Antonio Guterres in a withering attack on Big Oil at the UN on Tuesday. www.afp.com/en/un-chief-...
afp.com
UN chief says 'Big Oil' treats atmosphere as open sewer
Major global oil companies are treating the atmosphere like an "open sewer," the outgoing United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Tuesday in a withering attack on the energy...
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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 23/09/2026
AI data centers release superheated plumes of air that can blow across property lines, threatening to exacerbate the urban heat island effect in cities
bloom.bg
AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problem for Cities
As facilities to power AI grow larger and are built in clusters, they are spreading hot air beyond their property lines
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Ben Goldfarb @bengoldfarb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The dam removals that get the most press tend to be superlative western ones, like the Klamath and Elwha—big rivers, big fish. For @biographic.bsky.social, I wrote about some equally vital, under-the-radar projects now restoring eastern streams, one old mill dam at a time. #AlewivesAreTheNewSalmon
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