After an election where voters overwhelmingly rejected corporate polluters and ushered in a wave of change, moving forward with the Bipartisan American Affordability & Jobs Act (BAAJA) would be a betrayal of American voters’ broad mandate for stronger protections from the harms of AI data centers powered by toxic fossil fuel infrastructure. Members of the Platform for a Just Climate sent the following letter to all Senators urging a NO vote on BAAJA:
November 09, 2026
Re: The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) of 2026
Dear Senator,
As organizations accountable to a range of stakeholders, including frontline and environmental justice communities, we write this letter to express concern regarding several provisions in S. 5653, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) of 2026, and the process by which this bill was developed. We urge you to vote NO on S. 5653, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (“BAAJA”).
BAAJA was crafted over a year and a half without the opportunity for the public, including members of our organizations, to engage in the process. The bill was unveiled on September 30, 2026, immediately before the Senate adjourned until November, with a possible manager’s amendment process and floor votes scheduled for the lame-duck session. A bill of this scope and magnitude, that weakens environmental protections for pollution-burdened communities, deserves consideration through regular order, including consultation with impacted stakeholders and Tribal Nations, committee hearings, and markups, before consideration by the full Senate. Due to the lack of transparency in the legislative development process, it is imperative that the committees of jurisdiction pursue an inclusive amendment process that results in meaningful changes to BAAJA that incorporate the public’s expertise and feedback. When the Trump Administration is attacking our democratic rights [1], it is more important than ever for Congress to uphold the public process.
We are concerned that this bill, in its current form, would allow polluters to evade public notice and review, restrict the ability of states, Tribal governments, and local communities to protect local waterways and drinking water supplies, open culturally significant landscapes up for development, and lock in development of fossil fuel infrastructure now and in the future. We are living in an era of unparalleled rollbacks of environmental protections for environmental justice communities. The AI-driven data center build-out is adding more pollution to our neighborhoods and bringing more gas-fired power plants online while undercutting channels for public review and democratic participation. We know that the AI boom is driving nationwide power demand, with forecasts suggesting that emissions from the U.S. power sector could grow by over 20 percent in the near future as more natural gas generation comes online [2]. The bill destroys protections that allow impacted communities to have a meaningful say before construction of more harmful, polluting fossil fuel infrastructure in environmental justice communities, in rural communities, and in Indigenous communities.[3] Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities are disproportionately harmed by polluting fossil fuel infrastructure. For communities already hosting the nation’s major refineries, pipelines, and deepwater wells, the risk from irresponsible fast-tracking of more fossil fuel infrastructure is deeply troubling [4], [5].
BAAJA includes encouraging transmission and grid improvement provisions which many of our organizations have long advocated for. The renewable energy buildout should reduce pollution in communities, create local economic benefits, address energy affordability, and meet the urgency of the climate crisis.
This election cycle has shown how the power of the people can defeat the corrupt regime of corporate polluters. Now is the time for our movement and our representatives to show what it means to advance ambitious policies that offer people the dignity of healthy, safe lives, ensure communities have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, and protect them from extreme weather.
We are eager to work with you in a new Congress to deploy more renewable energy onto the grid without trading away the health of our communities or undermining the basic democratic processes that ensure community voices can weigh in on decisions that impact them.
Sincerely,
Center for Earth Energy and Democracy (CEED)
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ)
Earthjustice Action
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA)
Green Door Initiative (GDI)
Harambee House / Citizens for Environmental Justice
Los Jardines Institute (LJI)
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA)
Regenesis
Tishman Environment and Design Center – The New School
Union of Concerned Scientists
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
[1] Knoblauch, J. A., & Hanson, M. (2026, June 16). Why Trump is going after your right to take polluters to court (and how we’re fighting back). Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/article/why-trump-is-going-after-your-right-to-take-polluters-to-court-and-how-were-fighting-back
[2] Bloomberg News. (2026, August 18). Data center gas plants to boost US power emissions by 20%. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-18/data-center-gas-plants-to-boost-us-power-emissions-by-20
[3] Bender, H. (2026, October 8). A hard look at what’s in the 400-page permitting reform bill. Sierra Club. https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2026/10/hard-look-what-s-400and host,,and -page-permitting-reform-bill
[4] Boyd, T. (2026, October 5). Federal agencies are pushing a $5B+ pipeline we don’t need. Southern Environmental Law Center. https://www.selc.org/news/federal-agencies-are-pushing-a-5b-pipeline-we-dont-need/
[5] Buonocore, J. J., Mooney, F. A., Campbell, E. J., Sousa, B., van Loenen, B., Fabian, M. P., Nori-Sarma, A., & Willis, M. D. (2025). High populations near fossil fuel energy infrastructure across the supply chain and implications for an equitable energy transition. Environmental Research Letters, 20(11), Article 114093. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae0da6
