You might not know it from all the post-election recriminations, but Congress is on the cusp of a major bipartisan victory. Getting it across the line will require a bit of prudence, resolve and common sense.

At issue is a long-negotiated bill known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. Its goal is to ease permitting for federally linked construction projects, which can run to hundreds of pages, cost millions of dollars and impose years’ worth of delays. It would streamline the environmental review process; limit obstructive litigation; curtail capricious executive-branch actions, like the ones the president has recently threatened; encourage green energy projects; expand transmission capacity; and offer far more certainty for companies and investors. Senators voted to advance the measure on Monday.

So far, the plan has the support of industry, clean energy producers, many climate groups, business leaders, numerous unions, much of the Senate and the White House. What’s the holdup?

Some Democrats, buoyant after landslide victories in the midterms, have argued that they should now hold out for a better deal (for instance, one that includes more environmental protections or restrictions on fossil fuel projects). They shouldn’t.

For climate reasons alone, the bill deserves support. Multiple publicly available analyses have found that it would lead to significantly lower emissions. A study by the Rhodium Group found that it could add up to 249 gigawatts of new clean energy capacity by 2040, while Resources for the Future projects a 30% increase in transmission capacity. Total power-sector carbon emissions might be reduced by as much as 24% relative to 2025.

Other potential benefits abound. One trade group found that the new bill might save manufacturers $4.2 billion a year, or more than $42,000 per business. Another analysis estimated it could create more than 100,000 industrial jobs along with “massive amounts of new solar, wind, and storage capacity.” Thanks to lower fuel and generation costs, the measure might slash power-sector costs by $350 billion through 2050.

These are striking figures for an arcane environmental policy bill. But the problem could hardly be more acute. As one example, some 2,060 gigawatts of generation and storage requests — about 1 1/2 times total existing capacity — are currently stranded in transmission bottlenecks, thanks partly to capacity shortfalls and permitting delays. Similar red tape is one reason geothermal and offshore wind projects can take a decade or more. Even after recent reforms, fewer than half of environmental impact statements are finished within two years.

In addition to the climate consequences, all this creates a drag on growth, reduces productivity, raises prices for consumers and businesses, and costs the country jobs, time and money, mostly to the benefit of lawyers. An electorate fed up with rising prices would surely welcome the relief — not least, a reduction in electricity bills.

Further delay, even just until the new Congress is seated in January, won’t improve the proposal. After years of false starts, committee leaders of both parties have negotiated a delicate compromise that may not survive future elections. Congressional relations with the president are unlikely to improve over the coming months. History, too, counsels quick action: Democrats had a chance to pass a similar measure with a governing trifecta in 2022 and couldn’t strike a deal.

Both parties should thus seize on the momentum they currently have. Few political victories would be clearer, or cleaner. Just get it done.

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The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

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