Editors at National Review Online promote one good way to make the federal government better.
For decades, the federal government’s byzantine and overlapping permitting regimes for infrastructure and energy projects have stymied construction. Getting a permit under laws passed in the mid-20th century usually requires years of environmental reviews and judicial challenges, ballooning builders’ costs and making many projects infeasible. This year, Congress can finally rationalize the dreadful system it has made.
A bipartisan team of senators — including the leading members of both the energy and public works committees — has released the first promising bill aimed at comprehensive permitting reform in a very long time. The shared concern, according to negotiator Mike Lee (R., Utah), is “to make it easier in America to build things.” Hear, hear!
Republican lawmakers have long sought to ease permitting for fossil-fuel production, while Democrats have wished to do the same only for clean energy. They joined for the rare congressional deal that improves matters in both directions. Government should set a level playing field for different energy sources without putting its thumb on the scale, allowing consumers and investors to choose what works best. So long as clean energy isn’t subsidized — last year’s reconciliation law phased out nearly all preferential tax credits — there is no reason that wind and solar should face harsher permitting than oil and gas.
The bill limits environmental reviews across the board. That should benefit all projects that cross state lines or sit on federal land, from highways and bridges to pipelines and mines. Crucially, it tackles the three-headed monster of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Reviews under these statutes would be narrowed, streamlined, and centralized, with strict time limits imposed on environmental lawsuits challenging approvals.
Strengthening the electric grid receives special attention.
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