Energy Permitting Reform ‘Biggest Thing We Could Do to Stimulate Our Economy’
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) said Monday at a Breitbart News political event that energy permitting reform would be the “biggest thing” America could do to “boost our economy.”
“If you look at the energy demand required, we can’t ramp up energy production quickly enough to meet the needs. And the bottom line of that is that our permitting process, whether it’s an LNG, [liquified natural gas]whether it’s a pipeline, whether it’s a fracking site, or whether it’s a nuclear facility, or whether it’s just an update, an upgrade of transmission lines, it takes years and years and years. And what has happened is that well-intentioned laws, like the Clean Water Act, have been hijacked by environmental activists, not with the goal of getting a proper resolution to a particular project, but by hijacking the process, delaying and ultimately canceling the investment,” McCormick told Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle at the policy event.
McCormick added that if you’re an investor, the worst thing is “uncertainty.”
He said in Pennsylvania, the state had three projects that were abandoned because companies couldn’t get permits. He said on average, a permit takes about five to six years. He pointed out that it took three and a half years to win World War II.
To combat burdensome permitting regulations, McCormick in April introduced the Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act, a bill that would streamline the federal permitting process and bring greater certainty to the approval of energy infrastructure projects.
A press release from McCormick’s office stated:
Today, more than 650 projects are currently listed on the federal permitting dashboard.
Construction costs are 24 to 30 percent higher when projects are delayed. But the impact goes beyond delayed projects. According to an industry report, nearly 51 percent of manufacturers say uncertainty discourages them from investing in new or increased capacity in the United States, while nearly 66 percent say they would invest more if the process were faster and more predictable. The authorization system not only slows down projects, it prevents a significant portion of investments from being proposed in the first place.
“It’s not natural, it’s not what legislators envisioned when they passed these laws and they’ve been twisted in this way, which is not in America’s interests,” McCormick remarked.
He said the review process should be limited to one year and once a decision is made, it cannot be revoked.
McCormick said there is $1.5 trillion in stranded capital waiting to be invested because of the authorization rules.
He said allowing reform would “unlock” all that capital and be the “biggest thing” America could do to “boost our economy.”
