Last week, Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen introduced the Jobs, Not Waste Act, legislation that goes beyond simply stopping nuclear waste from being stored at Yucca Mountain.

The legislation would repeal the law designating Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear waste repository, require the Department of Energy to terminate the Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding, address environmental impacts at the site, and require a federal study of alternative uses that could create jobs and economic opportunities for Nevada.

The legislation comes as the federal government is exploring a different approach to nuclear waste. In recent weeks, the Department of Energy has entered preliminary agreements involving five states, Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho, as potential hosts for new nuclear facilities. Unlike the decades-long fight over Yucca Mountain, these proposals begin with states willing to participate in the process.

For decades, the federal government designated Yucca Mountain as the nation’s nuclear waste repository despite sustained opposition from Nevadans. The Jobs, Not Waste Act offers an opportunity to finally close that chapter.

But there is also a larger lesson here.

Communities deserve a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their land, water, health, and future.

Whether we are talking about nuclear waste, data centers, energy infrastructure, water development, or the use of our public lands, we should continue asking: Who benefits? Who carries the burden? Who has a seat at the table? And have the people most affected been heard?

As people of faith, we believe caring for creation also means caring for the communities who call that creation home. Decisions with consequences lasting generations should not simply be imposed upon communities. They should be made with transparency, participation, and respect for the voices of those who will live with their consequences.