Senate Advances Baaja Energy Infrastructure Bill in 73-25 Vote

The U.S. Senate voted 73 to 25 on Monday, 9 November, on a procedural motion to open debate on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, known as Baaja. The vote did not pass the bill, but it moved Baaja one step forward, according to The Guardian.

The vote was a cloture motion, a procedural vote on whether the Senate should begin floor debate on a bill. Baaja is a 417-page bill that would make it easier to build infrastructure projects. Those range from fossil fuel pipelines to transmission lines, the high-voltage power lines that carry electricity from generators to users and that could add clean energy to the grid.

Baaja has four sponsors, two Republicans and two Democrats. The Democratic sponsors are Senators Martin Heinrich and Sheldon Whitehouse. President Donald Trump urged all senators to vote for the bill.

Some environmental and civil liberties groups oppose it. Earthjustice, the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union have argued that the bill weakens environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the federal law that requires environmental reviews of major projects. The Guardian reported those objections.

The bill's path now depends on further steps in the Senate.