Efforts to upgrade and expand the nation’s aging grid are welcome

Re “A needed speedup for energy projects advances” ( Oct. 18 ): Thanks for Michael Smolen’s timely column addressing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026.

The bill will modernize the energy grid to bring new solar and wind energy projects online. These projects are far more numerous than the minimal new fossil fuel projects that would tangentially benefit from permitting reform.

As we face climate change, we need to lower energy costs and promote affordability, which the bill promotes. While the bill does limit some rights of Native American tribes, it also enshrines those rights into law. And environmental groups can still challenge projects, but with a shorter time frame.

The benefits outweigh the shortcomings of the bill because we need to act now. The California Climate Assessment Report projected that without prompt action, temperatures will rise by 4 degrees by 2050 and we will lose 75% of California beaches. That cannot happen!