By Nichola Groom
Nov 9 (Reuters) - The US Senate voted to advance debate on a sweeping bipartisan energy permitting bill on Monday, handing a victory to Democratic Senators Martin Heinrich and Sheldon Whitehouse as they seek to pass the ambitious infrastructure legislation before Congress adjourns.
The Senate voted 73-25 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, clearing the way for debate on legislation that would speed approvals for power plants,
transmission lines, mines and other infrastructure projects while requiring large data centers to pay more of the costs of grid upgrades needed to serve them.
The vote marked an early test of whether the bill's Democratic sponsors could keep enough of their party aligned behind a measure opposed by some environmental and tribes but backed by labor unions and energy companies. Heinrich of New Mexico and Whitehouse of Rhode Island co-authored the bill with Republicans Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah.
Ahead of the vote, Heinrich and Whitehouse argued that changes unveiled over the weekend had addressed many of the concerns raised by tribes, utilities and environmental groups while preserving the bill's goal of lowering electricity costs.
The package added requirements for consultation with tribes, expanded states' role in transmission planning and established a new Department of Energy program to provide communities with assistance on data-center impacts.
The senators also pushed back on suggestions that Democrats should shelve the legislation until next year, arguing the measure would deliver near-term savings on electricity costs and provide a foundation for additional environmental legislation under a Democratic-controlled Congress.
"This bill is the floor, not the ceiling, of our climate and environmental aspirations," Whitehouse said at a press conference. "We look forward to working to accomplish big things with our big Democratic majorities."
The legislation still faces opposition from environmental and Native American groups. The National Congress of American Indians, the largest advocacy group for tribes, on Monday urged Congress to halt consideration of the bill, saying it would weaken tribal sovereignty and protections for sacred sites.
Heinrich said the changes strengthened tribal protections by requiring federal agencies to consult with tribes throughout the permitting process, giving tribes an equal role with states in transmission planning and expanding opportunities to object to projects affecting cultural resources.
"We worked to strengthen that dramatically," he said.
Environmental group League of Conservation Voters and the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress said the changes were improvements but the bill still carries significant risks for public lands and environmental protections.
A BETTER DEAL?
Several green groups moved quickly to criticize the vote.
"The Democrats supporting this bill are sleepwalking into catastrophe by handing Trump virtually unlimited power to further entrench fossil fuels and enrich data center tech oligarchs in the last two years of his presidency," Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a leading voice on environmental issues in the Senate, voted against the measure and said he looked forward to debate on the issue in the next Congress.
"Voters sent a clear message last week that they want better deals than the ones they’ve gotten under unified Republican leadership," Markey said in a statement. "I believe we owe it to them to fight to win a better deal that delivers clean energy megawatts and jobs, near- and long-term savings on energy bills, and real climate benefits without leaving so many important members of our community on the losing side of the ledger."
Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto supported opening debate on the bill but said she would oppose final passage unless provisions affecting the National Historic Preservation Act are removed, citing tribal concerns.
If the bill succeeds in passing the Senate, it would still need approval in the House of Representatives.
Whitehouse expressed confidence about the bill's prospects in the Republican-controlled House, citing the bill's support from President Donald Trump.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, asked at a press conference whether he would support the bill, said it was "still under review."
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by Timothy Gardner and Aurora Ellis)
