Update: Climate was one of the dirtiest parts of the debt ceiling deal, and a clear victory for fossil fuel funded Republicans in Congress. But there’s still time to fast track renewable energy production and the transmission lines we need to get it to consumers.

Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, which was a game changer in our fight for clean energy. But to unlock the benefits, we need to build more clean energy transmission faster.

Failing to hasten the build-out of transmission lines to move more clean energy from wide open spaces to cities where people will use the energy could stall those benefits and forfeit a HUGE opportunity to curb greenhouse gasses—a recent study shows that 80 percent of the greenhouse gas reductions in the IRA could be lost if the U.S. doesn’t build any new transmission lines.

We need a lot more transmission lines, but a maze of federal, state, and local permitting processes slows down progress on transmitting clean energy. Right now “permitting reform” is a hot topic in Washington, but it has to be done right.

Senate Democrats have a proposal to focus energy transmission and infrastructure projects around renewable energy, community involvement, and building out the nation’s power lines. Congress must support clean energy permitting that focuses on these priorities. Since the debt deal was negotiated, everyone from Joe Manchin to MAGA Speaker McCarthy, to climate hawks like Rep. Sean Casten and Sen. Ed Markey have promised to keep working on “permitting reform” this summer.

Without transmission reform, we face little chance of meeting our clean energy goals. But we must only consider proposals that encompass climate and environmental justice impacts, respect bedrock environmental laws, and ensure frontline communities would not be disproportionately harmed.

Congress must prioritize clean energy in permit legislation.

Sign the petition to Congress: Let’s get permitting reform right, to help the clean energy transition.