At a time when many are living paycheck to paycheck, it’s clear that we need leaders across the political spectrum to put aside their differences and work on solutions that make Americans’ lives better.
As the Western Ag Reporter, one of the most widely read weekly agriculture newspapers in the industry, recently editorialized: “We have enough going on as an industry right now to tear each other down.” And, later in an email, added, “We have too many things working against us in our industry for insults and infighting.”
With energy demand soaring and utility prices rising, affordable and reliable energy is a non-negotiable for farms, ranches, small businesses, local economies and hard-working households.
Yet one of the biggest barriers to expanding the energy infrastructure needed to meet growing demand is an outdated permitting process that is often slow, unpredictable and unnecessarily expensive.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, a permit is a written contract issued by the government that allows a person or company to carry out a specific activity — often construction or building infrastructure, under defined rules. Permits play an important role in protecting people’s health, safety and our environment.
The problem isn’t the existence of permits. The problem is obtaining them can take years.
Major energy and infrastructure projects require approvals from multiple local, state and federal agencies. Environmental reviews and interagency consultations can stretch timelines far beyond what was originally intended, driving up costs and creating uncertainty for businesses, workers and consumers alike.
Dustin Meyer, the senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute has urged that whether the priority is affordability, reliability, national security or emissions reductions, America is hindered in building big things by a permitting process that is “fundamentally broken.”
“Energy demand is growing,” he warned. “Faster than our ability to build the infrastructure to meet it.”
That “uncertainty,” as Todd Snitchler, the president and CEO of Electric Power Supply Association, puts it, “creates perhaps the greatest risks to both reliability and affordability for electricity consumers.”
Thankfully, energy permitting reform could solve these problems by modernizing the system. Current bipartisan permitting reform proposals include streamlining environmental reviews, improving coordination among agencies, reducing unnecessary delays, strengthening transmission planning, expanding grid capacity and limiting frivolous lawsuits that can stall projects for years.
Importantly, streamlining does not mean abandoning environmental protections. It means making the process efficient, transparent and predictable while maintaining safeguards. As Sen. John Curtis, R-UT, has stated, agencies should focus on what matters most, improve coordination and increase government accountability without cutting corners.
The Montana and Wyoming Chambers of Commerce, along with several Utah chambers, have joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in urging Congress to update the nation’s permitting system so communities can build infrastructure, create jobs and support economic growth.
In today’s political climate, bipartisan agreement is rare but as Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works emphasizes, this type of legislation “must be bipartisan to be successful and durable.”
So now it’s down to Congress to ignore the noise of insults and infighting and get permitting reform done. Contact your Congressional delegations urging them to enact comprehensive energy permitting reform now, today, this summer, this Congress!