Proposal to Fast-Track Data Centers Risks Exacerbating Harms to Wildlife, Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Removing legal guardrails from any large-scale industrial project - side-stepping meaningful community engagement, environmental reviews, and wildlife safeguards - is not worth the risk. The House Judiciary Committee should set aside the Protect AI Act and focus on preserving communities' access to the courts for recourse on infrastructure projects that harm wildlife and people.

"Congress should reconsider any effort to cut corners and remove the timely, but judicious, review of industrial projects that directly affect wildlife and communities," said Dr. Adrienne Hollis, vice president for environmental justice, public health, and community resilience and revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation. "If the public is concerned about fast-tracked processes, they need not look any further than the House Judiciary Committee's mark-up itself on this proposal, which does not even have a number. When we exclude the public from decision-making and fast-track decisions, people and wildlife lose.