FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2025
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org, 1 (917) 837 – 1183
WASHINGTON – This week, as the “Abundance” conference meets in D.C. and “permitting reform” efforts ramp up in Congress, WE ACT for Environmental Justice shares a brand-new StoryMap report pushing back against false narratives that promote deregulation, and instead uplifts fair and just solutions for a clean energy transition. The StoryMap analyzes peer reviewed papers and highlights community stories to conclude that bedrock laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) do not delay clean energy projects as permitting reform and Abundance proponents claim. As we see a dramatic increase in unregulated development of AI datacenters, such as Musk’s xAI in Memphis, the StoryMap also emphasizes the critical importance of laws such as NEPA to protect democratic processes and against pollution. This is especially the case for overburdened environmental justice communities, guaranteeing them the right to have a say in the federal projects that impact their neighborhoods, health, and lives.
Ongoing Congressional “permitting reform” efforts attempt to blame environmental regulations, primarily the NEPA, for delays in the build out of clean energy projects. Key findings from WE ACT’s StoryMap prove the opposite – strengthening NEPA works. As the White House Council of Environmental Quality’s January 2025 report showed the median time to complete an EIS – the most rigorous form of NEPA environmental review – decreased to 2.8 years between 2019 and 2024. Community stories also showcase how NEPA appropriately included communities and environmental review for better outcomes, with examples from the Nellis Solar Plant in Las Vegas and the Ten West Link Transmission Project in Arizona and California, as well as others.
Leslie Fields, Chief Federal Officer for WE ACT for Environmental Justice shares,
“NEPA serves communities by allowing them a say in the decision making processes that impact their neighborhoods, leading to outcomes that protect human health and ecosystems. Environmental justice programs and protections are not only essential to communities historically overburdened by pollution – they represent our nation’s commitment to a safe and healthy environment for all. For proper implementation, NEPA needs to be protected, not weakened. When communities are properly engaged and collaborated with, clean energy projects move at a sustainable and effective pace.”
“Permitting reform efforts that promote deregulation and the ‘Abundance’ narrative are false policy choices and miss the mark. We cannot repeat the injustices of the fossil fuel industry’s use of environmental justice communities as sacrifice zones as we move towards the clean energy future we need and deserve. We must practice what we preach: investing and scaling clean energy by including communities, funding and protecting NEPA, and building a future that is based in true health and prosperity for everyone, not just some.”
Solutions uplifted in the StoryMap include 1) strengthening NEPA & early and meaningful community engagement; 2) adequate funding and staffing for agency NEPA implementation; 3) addressing transmission acceleration and clean energy separately; and 4) better interagency coordination.
We know these solutions are effective because they’ve been tested. The A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act, for example, included legislative language that would strengthen community engagement requirements for development projects and address cumulative impacts. Late representatives A. Donald McEachin and Raul M. Grijalva took the bill across the country to ensure it was written by communities, for communities. Additionally, following the $1 billion IRA funds for NEPA implementation, research showed that this investment led to the decrease of permitting timelines by 6 months. The Biden-Harris administration also improved interagency coordination, developed digital and online tools to better communicate with developers and stakeholders, and increased transparency and accessibility of project requirements.
From this analysis, it is clear that laws like NEPA and regulations that ensure community participation and environmental review are not the problem. Instead of deregulation, we need increased investments, coordination, and participation to get us to a true clean energy future.
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WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.