NOVEMBER 11 BAAJA UPDATE:
Thank you to everyone who made calls, sent messages, and spread the word about the procedural “cloture” vote on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA, this week.
Unfortunately, after Senators voted 73-25 to keep this dangerous polluter giveaway "permit reform" bill alive on Monday - including Hawaiʻi's own Senator Brian Schatz - BAAJA is poised to pass the Senate as early as this week.
Senator Mazie Hirono thankfully voted against moving BAAJA forward during the “lame duck” Congress. Mahalo nui Senator Hirono!
While Senator Brian Schatz voted to keep this bill alive, he still has a chance to do the right thing, and vote no when it comes up for a final vote.
This bill is an unprecedented assault on the bedrock laws that help keep Hawaiʻi’s oceans and waterways clean, our environment intact, native and endangered species protected, and sacred spaces safe – all while stripping away our courts' ability to uphold the law, and giving polluters powerful new tools to force dirty projects onto our islands and across the continent, for decades to come. For more on what this bill’s current draft would do, check out Earthjustice’s “Manager’s Draft” assessment here, and find more resources, opposition statements, sign-on letters, etc. at the Friends of the Earth BAAJA page here.
Take action now!
With the clock ticking, we can and must take action to ensure our Senators don’t let Hawaiʻi, communities across the United States, and our future generations down.
Please take a moment to call and message Senator Hirono to thank her for her no vote, and to ask that she continue to hold the line against this disastrous measure.
In addition, please urge Senator Schatz to not turn his back on Hawaiʻi or the future of our islands and our planet, and urge him to vote NO when BAAJA comes up for a final Senate vote.
And finally, please ask your friends and networks to do the same!
Our Senators' contact information and sample messages are provided below, along with other steps you can take right now.
With just a few moments of your time, we can still stop this bad, dirty, and dangerous bill from jeopardizing our islands' ʻāina and culture, and locking us into a future of ever more planet-destroying fossil fuels. Mahalo nui for standing up to protect our Hawaiʻi nei!
11/11/26 BAAJA action steps and sample messages:
1. Call Senator Schatz at (202) 224-3934 and ask him to vote NO on BAAJA. Sample script: “Aloha Senator Schatz, my name is _____ and I am a resident of ____. Please do not vote to approve the BAAJA permitting reform bill. With so much at stake and with so much opposition here and throughout the continent, we must not ramrod through its giveaways to polluters at the expense of our communities and future generations. Mahalo.”
2. Send a message to Senator Schatz at https://www.schatz.senate.gov/contact/share-your-thoughts. Sample message: “Aloha Senator Schatz, my name is _____ and I am a resident of ____. Please vote NO on BAAJA. There is no reason for us to be rushing through such a dangerous measure that is opposed by so many of your constituents, and countless environmental, indigenous, good governance, and climate organizations here and across the continent. Do not let your legacy be one of helping polluters force through dirty projects over the objections of communities, Native Hawaiian organizations and Tribes, and even federal regulators, for decades to come. Please stand on the right side of history, and make Hawaiʻi proud to call you our Senator.”
3. Call Senator Mazie Hirono at (202) 224-6361. Sample script: “Aloha Senator Hirono, my name is _____ and I am a resident of ____. I just wanted to say MAHALO NUI for making Hawaiʻi proud, and voting no on the BAAJA permitting reform bill. Please, continue to vote against BAAJA and protect our islands, communities throughout the Pacific and United States, and future generations from this incredibly dangerous measure. Thank you so much.”
4. Send a message to Senator Hirono at https://www.hirono.senate.gov/contact/email-me-about-an-issue. Sample message: “Aloha Senator Hirono, my name is _____ and I am a resident of ____. THANK YOU SO MUCH for voting no on BAAJA, and standing with the countless environmental, indigenous, good governance, and climate organizations here and across the continent who have voiced their opposition to this dangerous, dirty bill. Please continue to hold the line, and ensure that the lame duck Congress does not force this bill onto Hawaiʻi and the American people. I know you will make Hawaiʻi proud.”
5. Ask your friends and networks to do the same!
NOVEMBER 8 BAAJA UPDATE:
Thank you to all who took action on BAAJA last week! A quick update: word is that Senator Schatz is going to vote yes on the most recent "Manager’s Draft" amendments , which would get rid of the worst of the bill's current historic preservation act provisions, but still pretty much wreck the fundamental laws and legal remedies that protect our natural and cultural landscapes and vanishing native species, while letting fossil fuel companies and other polluters force through dirty energy and other projects onto us and our children for decades into the future.
The National Congress of American Indians, NDN Collective, Climate Justice Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, etc. have all agreed the proposed new draft is not acceptable. Some have called it putting lipstick on a pig - letʻs make sure our good Senators do not try to kiss it!
Please take a moment to take the action steps below TONIGHT if you have not done so. If you donʻt have time or already did take action, you can also just share this most recent post on Facebook and/or Instagram and tag Senators Schatz (@senbrianschatz) and Hirono (@senmaziehirono on Insta, @senatorhirono on Facebook).
NOVEMBER 6 “ALL HANDS ON DECK!” BAAJA CALL TO ACTION:
Right now, an incredibly dangerous bill that would lock the U.S. into fossil fuels and jeopardize Hawaiʻi's land, water, culture, and future is being pushed by the “lame duck” Congress, before the winners of the general election are sworn in on January 3.
Please take a moment to learn, urge our Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono to hold the line and oppose this bill as drafted, and share this alert far and wide!
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA, would give the fossil fuel industry unprecedented tools to force approvals of dirty energy projects, while stripping down environmental and cultural protections, tying the hands of our courts to address violations of the law, and shredding Tribal and Native Hawaiian Organization (NHO) consultation requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Just some examples of what BAAJA would do include:
Exempt a slew of corporate and federal government (including the U.S. military) actions from national environmental review;
Allow corporations to dictate the scope of their environmental review and historic preservation responsibilities;
Significantly limit whether and how courts can address violations of the environmental review law;
Make historic preservation consultation with Tribes and NHOs optional instead of mandatory;
Tie Hawaiʻi’s and states' hands in protecting their waters through the Clean Water Act;
Relax endangered species protections while shifting federal endangered species responsibilities to under-resourced state agencies; and
Lock in dirty energy permits – even those illegally issued – while also letting proponents of future projects sue if they are denied a permit that is similar to one issued during the current administration.
As local environmental law expert and attorney Isaac Moriwake has decried, "This bill was a raw deal even before the blue tsunami election. Our Senators should shelve this and let the new Congress achieve a real deal that advances clean energy, without wrecking our environmental and cultural safeguards and giving industries free rein to ram through dirty and destructive projects."
Please take action today – the first Senate cloture vote on this bill is scheduled for Monday, November 9! – and ask your friends to do the same:
1. Learn more about this bill – Earthjustice’s fairly comprehensive analysis is a good place to start, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation opposition letter dives deeper into the historic preservation consultation and cultural protection issues.
2. Send a note to our Senators to oppose BAAJA as currently written. The Climate Justice Alliance has a quick and easy platform to do so here.
3. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak with Senator Schatz’s office. Leave a message to urge him to vote “No” on BAAJA (a simple message: “Aloha Senator Schatz. My name is _____ and I am a resident of _____. Please do not vote to pass the BAAJA permitting reform bill as drafted. Especially with the new incoming Congress, we can get a better deal that truly advances clean energy without letting polluters trample over our environment, our culture, and our rights. Mahalo.”).
Then, repeat one more time for Senator Hirono.
4. Ask your friends and networks to do the same!
Together, we can – we must – stand up for our islands, our planet, and our future.