Meta位于佐治亚州索希尔附近的数据中心。参议院周一以73票赞成、25票反对，正式启动对一项两党法案的审议，该法案旨在加快数据中心及其他基础设施项目的许可审批。这是上周大选中选民严厉否决唐纳德·特朗普和国会共和党人以来，参议院采取的首项重大行动。参议员和总统均推动该法案，称其为满足日益增长的电力及其他能源需求的一种途径，这些能源目前面临接入电网长达数年的延误。
Meta datacenters near Social Circle, Georgia. Chamber voted 73-25 to formally take up bill that will shorten timelines to start energy and datacenter projects The Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week’s election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face years-long delays in getting to the grid.
该立法的广泛变革将缩短大型能源项目启动的时间表——既包括清洁能源项目，也包括化石燃料项目——并确保数据中心为其使用的能源付费。对人工智能数据中心及电价上涨的愤怒，助推了一批承诺严控这些庞大、耗能巨大的建筑的民主党人当选。
The legislation’s sweeping changes would shorten the timeline to get big energy projects started – both for clean energy and fossil fuel projects – and make sure datacenters pay for the energy they use. Anger over artificial intelligence datacenters and rising electricity helped usher in a wave of Democrats pledging to clamp down on the massive, energy-hungry structures.
特朗普敦促参议员投赞成票，在周日的一条社交媒体帖子中称其为“美国能源独立和主导地位的巨大胜利”。特朗普写道，该法案将“确保我们能比以往更快地建设管道、矿山和发电厂，降低美国家庭的能源成本”。
Trump urged senators to vote for it, calling it a “BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE” in a social media post on Sunday. The bill will “ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families”, Trump wrote.
代表清洁能源开发商以及石油天然气行业的主要行业团体也支持该法案。
Major industry groups representing developers in clean energy and in the oil and gas sector also support the bill.
然而，许多环保组织批评该协议，称其将锁定化石燃料开发，削弱环境保障措施，并使社区更难对能源项目审批提出挑战。中期选举结果可能使跛脚鸭会期通过法案变得复杂。
However, many environmental organizations have panned the deal because they say it would lock in fossil fuel development, weaken environmental safeguards and make it harder for communities to challenge energy project approvals. Midterm results could complicate bill’s passage in lame-duck sessions.
尽管该法案获得了两党支持，但民主党在中期选举中的全面胜利可能会使其通过变得复杂。
While the bill has received bipartisan support, the Democrats’ sweeping midterm win could complicate its passage.
一些民主党人表示，该党应利用其在下届国会中的更强势地位，通过立法生产急需的清洁能源，同时限制石油、天然气和采矿业的扩张。一些批评者称，拟议的许可法案可能导致液化天然气出口大幅增加，并助长由天然气供电的数据中心“鲁莽”扩建。
Some Democrats say the party should use its stronger position in the next Congress to pass legislation that produces needed clean energy, but limits expansion of oil, natural gas and mining. Some critics have said the permitting bill as proposed could lead to a vast increase in exports of liquefied natural gas and facilitate a “reckless” build-out of datacenters powered by natural gas.
众议院少数党领袖、纽约州民主党人哈基姆·杰弗里斯（预计将于1月成为议长）上周批评了该法案，其办公室表示，该法案在多个方面“达不到要求”。
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, a New York Democrat who is expected to become speaker in January, criticized the bill last week, with his office saying it “falls short” in a number of areas.
包括“塞拉俱乐部”和“国家野生动物联合会”在内的主要环保组织近日强烈反对该措施，理由是担心其对司法审查的限制，以及对《国家环境政策法》和《濒危物种法》的修改。这项环境政策法（即NEPA）要求机构考虑项目可能产生的影响，并允许公众在项目获批前发表意见，但改革支持者称，这导致联邦许可流程出现长达数年的延误。
Major environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation, have strongly opposed the measure in recent days, citing concerns about its limits on judicial review and changes to the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. The environmental policy law, known as NEPA, requires agencies to consider a project’s possible impacts and allows the public to be heard before a project is approved, but supporters of an overhaul say that causes yearslong delays in federal permitting.
该法案的四位主要推动者——两名民主党人和两名共和党人——于周六发布了一套详细的修正案，旨在增强对该立法的支持。
The bill’s four main champions – two Democrats and two Republicans – released a detailed set of amendments Saturday designed to bolster support for the legislation.
这四位参议员分别领导参议院的能源和环境委员会，他们在大选前几周敲定了协议。共和党参议员、西弗吉尼亚州的雪莱·摩尔·卡皮托，共和党参议员、犹他州的迈克·李，民主党参议员、新墨西哥州的马丁·海因里希，以及民主党参议员、罗德岛州的谢尔登·怀特豪斯表示，美国民众厌倦了支付更高的水电费，而本可降低成本的项目却在规划阶段搁置多年。
The four senators, who lead the chamber’s energy and environment panels, negotiated the deal weeks before the election. Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican senator of West Virginia, Mike Lee, a Republican senator of Utah, Martin Heinrich a Democratic senator of New Mexico and Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator of Rhode Island, say Americans are tired of paying more in utility bills while projects that could lower costs sit stuck in the planning phase for years.
“美国民众等不起降低电价了。我们现在就需要通过这项法案，”海因里希说。
“Americans can’t afford to wait for lower electricity prices. We need to pass this bill now,” said Heinrich.
海因里希表示，如果该法案获通过，将为家庭节省数十亿美元的电费，创造就业岗位，减少排放，并迫使大型企业为数据中心支付其应承担的全部费用，而不是将能源成本转嫁给消费者。
If passed, the bill will save households billions on electricity costs, create jobs, cut emissions and force big corporations to pay their full share for datacenters instead of pushing energy costs on consumers, Heinrich said.
卡皮托称该法案是“美国的胜利”，并补充道：“我们不能让这一时机溜走。现实是，在未来几年里，我们别无选择，只能增加国家能源生产。这是一个前所未有的机会……让我们共同努力，向美国民众表明我们在倾听你们的声音。”
Capito called the bill “a win for America”, adding: “We cannot let this moment pass by. The reality is this, over the next several years, we will have no choice but to increase our national energy production. This is an unprecedented opportunity … to come together to show the American people we are listening to you.”