While President Donald Trump and Republican leaders plow ahead with their GOP-only megabill, taking aim at what they call the “Green New Scam,” rank-and-file lawmakers are reaching across the aisle and making deals on lower-profile energy and environment legislation.
This Congress, the House has passed dozens of bipartisan bills focused on reforming disaster relief; preventing wildfires; bolstering energy-related research; transferring public lands; streamlining permitting processes; and generally improving agencies’ work on energy development, water management and natural resources.
The bills are not exactly cable news fodder or social media bait amid the day-to-day fights that dominate Capitol Hill discourse. But lawmakers pushing these bills say their unsung proposals can cut through the partisan noise and accomplish significant — if at times obscure — reforms that could make a difference for environmental management, innovation and climate resilience.
“It’s just common sense,” said Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), who has introduced forestry, wildfire management and energy efficiency bills with Democratic co-sponsors this Congress, including California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla. “I mean, in a hyperpartisan era, these are the issues that we can look at.”
