Permitting Reform – Voices of Austin @CCLATX

We would like to welcome new members to Citizens’ Climate Lobby and the Austin Chapter. We have noticed quite a few people have signed up the past few months! If you are not yet a member, please follow the link to join via the national Citizens’ Climate Lobby website. Then, head over to the Austin Chapter page to join our group.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby will host its fall virtual conference (online) December 4 and 5, 2026 . Follow the link to register. During the event, you will hear from Washington, D.C. experts about the bipartisan permitting reform package moving through Congress. You will join advocates nationwide to take advantage of the final weeks of this legislative session, and you will train for a major grassroots mobilization in early 2027, including new resources to use in your community. We hope to see you online!

By way of background, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) is a comprehensive, bipartisan permitting reform package that CCL has been lobbying Congress to pass since 2022. This bill will make it possible for America to build clean energy much faster and get that clean energy where it’s needed. That leads to significant emissions reductions, which are vital to adequately address climate change. Clean, cheap energy will lower electricity costs nationwide. CCL has officially endorsed BAAJA. Read more on the fact sheet below.

BAAJA Fact Sheet Download

If you would like to go ahead and contact your elected officials about the bill, follow this link to write your senators via our handy CCL email tool.

And for Austin Chapter members old and new alike, join us for our monthly Climate Action Happy Hour at The ABGB in Austin on Sunday, October 25 starting at 12:30 p.m. Details are available on our Chapter page on the CCL website. We hope to see you there!

The summer 2024 Citizens’ Climate Lobby conference in Washington, D.C. was a great success. As part of that event, 442 information-packed meetings were held with elected officials.

Following up on those meetings, we need your help. Follow the link to email your elected officials to urge them boost transmission projects, improve early community involvement, and to speed up the pace with which the U.S. builds and deploys new clean energy projects.

This is a simple task but exceedingly important. For without permitting reform, roughly half of the potential carbon pollution reductions from the Inflation Reduction Act will be lost.

Just like you need a building permit to expand your home, big energy projects must get written approval from local, state, and/or federal authorities to start construction. There are three key parts to successful energy permitting reform:

Siting/building clean energy projects

Right now, it takes an average of 4.5 years for federal agencies just to complete environmental impact statements for major energy projects. These are important assessments, but we need them to move faster and speed up the pace with which we build new clean energy projects. Congress took the first steps to address this in the June 2023 debt ceiling bill.

Transmitting that clean energy across the country

Thanks to tax credits passed in the Inflation Reduction Act, development of new solar and wind energy projects will grow exponentially. But building them is only part of the challenge – they also need to be connected to the grid to move power to the houses and businesses that need them. Ultimately, we need to triple our current capacity to transmit clean electricity by 2050.

Involving local communities

Better permitting allows local communities to give their input on energy projects early in the process and choose good projects over bad ones. Good projects should be approved faster, harmful projects should be rejected faster, and all new projects should safeguard the lives and health of people living nearby.

Thank you for taking the time to email your elected representatives!