14 Sep 2022 BPC Action and Other Groups Urge Action on Permitting Reform in Energy and Environment
Building clean infrastructure provides significant economic, national security, climate, and quality-of-life benefits. These benefits are not realized, however, until the infrastructure is built. Unfortunately, the permitting and siting of projects have become burdensome, onerous, and inefficient, with environmental reviews alone taking many years, if not more than a decade, to complete. This increases costs, decreases overall investment, delays the economic and environmental benefits of cleaner infrastructure, and decreases energy affordability and reliability.
Congress should take steps this year to reform the environmental review and permitting process. The United States maintains high environmental standards, and we are not advocating for lowering our standards. However, we support making project approvals more efficient, predictable, and coordinated. Commonsense reforms can increase transparency and accountability and ensure best practices are used while reducing duplication of effort and bureaucratic friction. Without progress on this front, net-zero emissions by 2050 will not be in reach.
Luckily, there is bipartisan agreement on the need to improve permitting. We stand ready to work with Congress to help design an efficient permitting system that protects the environment, ensures early, meaningful, and just engagement with local communities, and allows the United States to deploy infrastructure quickly.