Regulatory variation on the gaslighting theme.

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in the 1944 thriller ‘Gaslight’

Gaslighting has become one of the main staples of the current US Executive Administration. The term comes from a stage play “Gas Light” by British Playwright Patrick Hamilton whereby a husband denies his wife’s perceptions of real things, causing her to question her sanity.  It has come to mean that if you unabashedly tell a lie so frequently, the target of the gaslighting starts caving in by asking themselves “Am I crazy?” It is particularly effective if the gas-lighter blames the target of doing the things that the gas-lighter is actually doing.

While this has been a socially performative strategy imposed by this Administration, it is now coming up in the naming of Congressional and Senatorial Bills. “The Big Beautiful Bill Act” is a prime example, inasmuch as it did nothing to serve and protect the government’s constituents (that would be you and me), and everything to serve the business interests that our government is supposed to protect us from.

I bring this up because there is currently a Bill up with a name that gaslights in spades – S-5653, called the “Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act,” or BAAJA for short. Primary Sponsor Sen. Shelley Moore Capito [R-WV] and co-sponsors Sen. Mike Lee [R-UT], Sen. Martin Heinrich [D-NM], and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI].

I have no idea what Sen. Whitehouse is thinking, as this seems so contrary to his usual arc of reasoning. There’s some speculation that he might welcome BAAJAs inclusion of provisions that require energy-intensive data centers to pay their fair share of associated transmission and grid upgrade costs. Or perhaps he sees it as a leg-up on future clean energy projects (if and when his party captures the Government “trifecta” – holding the House, the Senate, and the Presidency). But the sacrifices are particularly deep for this sort of speculation.

Some of the provisions in the Bill include eviscerating the Clean Water Act (CWA), the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by establishing the position that all of these Acts interfere with business, and that what is harmed as any proposed action or policy moves forward are the industries that are proposing the action.

It prevents courts from staying any action while the action is in litigation (an inducement to drag litigation on, and on, and on…). It allows businesses to sue the taxpayers for the full construction costs under a set of arbitrary conditions perceived as harm to that business. It would limit proposed alternatives in Environmental Impact Statements to only those that serve the business – eliminating the “No Action” alternative under NEPA, and potentially exempts Deep Sea Mining projects outside of Federal Waters from NEPA review.

What this has to do with American Jobs and an “Affordability” is out of the reach of my logic…If passed, this Bill will set our conservation efforts and environmental protection laws back sixty years – to when the policy was “What’s good for business is good for America” (…anybody remember the occasional Cuyahoga River fires?)              

I’m not sharing with you just to bum you out, because you can do something – which is to call your Senators and tell them how crappy this Act is.

The Center for Biological Diversity put together a good Fact Sheet, and a good set of Talking Points.

You can call one of your Senator’s offices; their Washington DC office, their local office near you (where you are more likely to get a person on the line), or the DC Senate Switchboard (202) 224-3121), where they will route you to your Senator’s office.

You might also want to write a note to Sheldon Whitehouse’s office with your opinions about this disastrous bill.