Take a second to think about the infrastructures we rely on every day: roads, bridges, powerplants-both traditional and renewable, just to name a few. In order for many projects to get built, they must go through a federal permitting process.
But would you believe that this process has not been updated in over fifty years?
Did you know: the last major permitting reform was the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law in 1970?
While NEPA is important for environmental protection, it hasn’t adapted to a changing world. To put it in perspective, the national population has grown by over 100 million people in 50 years.
Our nation’s energy demand is growing every second and we need a permitting system that can keep up.
If we don’t modernize this system soon, energy consumers get hurt the most: projects get delayed or cancelled, prices rise, and jobs are lost.
“Permitting purgatory” is unacceptable. Because the longer we wait, the more we put our country – and consumers like you – at risk.
The biggest challenge with today’s permitting process is simple: delays.
Energy projects must navigate multiple environmental reviews, overlapping state and federal regulatory requirements, and frequent legal challenges before construction can even begin. Too often, projects could be constructed faster than they can be approved.
Whether it’s natural gas pipelines, nuclear plants, solar farms or the transmission lines that deliver electricity, every type of energy infrastructure is affected.
And the result? -> just open your energy bill. If projects cannot get built, energy demand outstrips supply, raising prices and decreasing reliability of our energy systems. Families feel it in their energy bills, businesses worry about running their equipment without interruption, and developers feel it through the millions of dollars they have to eat just to survive this process.
Higher risk for outages – higher rate of worried families.
When our permitting system slows down energy infrastructure projects, families and businesses are at higher risk for energy shortages. Winter storms and strong heat waves can put strain on pipelines and the power grid, increasing the likelihood of interruptions.
Cutting the Red Tape to Power Progress
Updating our permitting system does not mean eliminating environmental safeguards. It means creating a process that is clear, predictable, and better suited for today’s growing energy needs.
Smart permitting reform can help ensure projects move forward efficiently while maintaining strong environmental protections.
Clear timelines, coordinated reviews, and greater certainty for developers would bring critical energy infrastructure online faster, supporting job creation, strengthening grid reliability, and protecting consumers from rising costs.
America’s energy future depends on building the infrastructure needed to power our growing economy. Modernizing the permitting process is a practical step toward ensuring energy remains affordable, reliable, and accessible for families and businesses across the country.