Attorney General Landry pressing GOP senators to oppose energy permit reforms

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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is leading a group of 18 Republican attorneys general in opposition to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s proposed Energy Independence and Security Act—a bill that would reform the federal permitting process for major energy infrastructure projects, reports Louisiana Illuminator.

Manchin, D-West Virginia, released the text of his legislation last week following weeks of deliberations with fellow Democrats. Senate leadership committed to bringing his bill to a vote in exchange for Manchin’s support of the earlier Inflation Reduction Act. However, opposition to the bill voiced by some Democrats in the House and Senate could force him to seek support from a large number of Republicans.

Landry’s coalition of Republican AGs hopes to dissuade any GOP members of Congress from joining the moderate Democrat’s position. In a letter to Senate leaders on Monday, Landry wrote that Manchin’s legislation would restrict states’ authority to set their own resource and utility policies and disrupt the “careful balance of state and federal authority that has been a cornerstone of the Federal Power Act for nearly a century.” Read the full story from Louisiana Illuminator.