CEI Coalition Letter on Permitting Reform in the 119th Congress
Dear Members of Congress:
The undersigned organizations strongly believe that our nation needs across-the-board federal permitting reform. This requires amending the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as the many environmental statutes with permitting requirements, such as the Clean Water Act.
We write this letter though to strongly urge you to address permitting reform next year, not in the lame duck. Recent reports of permitting and transmission legislation gaining momentum this year are concerning.
It is generally inadvisable to rush any major legislation, especially during a lame duck session. Further, it makes no sense for Republicans to move forward with legislation now when next year they will control the House, the Senate, and the White House.
Anything that Republicans and those who want genuine permitting reform can get now they can get next year, and much more. There would be less need for compromise, such as by enacting harmful transmission policy that would untap the Inflation Reduction Act subsidies and primarily serve to put unreliable electricity generation on the grid (i.e. wind and solar).
The transmission policies in bills such as the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (S. 4753) would create these problems, as well as increase the federal role over transmission policy and hurt consumers. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association has warned that the bill in its current form “would greatly expand federal control over co-ops, subjecting them to unacceptable regulation and driving up costs for consumers.”
In 2025, those who want real permitting reform will have an excellent opportunity to make this objective a reality. Passing weak or even harmful permitting legislation during the lame duck will provide a viable excuse for opponents of permitting reform to block real reform next year.
There are too many federal permitting obstacles that make it difficult to build everything from critical energy and water infrastructure to a family home. Our organizations look forward to working with you on permitting reform for 2025 to reduce these obstacles. The few weeks remaining this year are not the time for such efforts.
We strongly urge you to not pursue permitting legislation in the lame duck and to proactively fight for major reform in 2025.
Sincerely,
Daren Bakst
Director, Center for Energy and Environment
Competitive Enterprise Institute
John Droz, Jr.
Founder & physicist
Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
Amy Cooke
President
Always On Energy Research
Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment
Steve Pociask
President & CEO
The American Consumer Institute
Thomas J. Pyle
President
American Energy Alliance
Hon. Jason Isaac
CEO
American Energy Institute
Myron Ebell
Chairman
American Lands Council
Margaret Byfield
Executive Director
American Stewards of Liberty
Richard Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government
David T. Stevenson
Director, Center for Energy & Environment
Caesar Rodney Institute
Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom
John Hinderaker
President
Center of the American Experiment
E. Calvin Beisner, Ph.D.
President
Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
Craig Richardson
President
Energy & Environment Legal Institute
(E&E Legal)
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
Cameron Sholty
Executive Director
Heartland Impact
James Taylor
President
The Heartland Institute
Andrew Langer
President
Institute for Liberty
Annette Olson
CEO
The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy
Jon Sanders
Director of the Center for Food, Power, and Life
John Locke Foundation
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Daniel C. Turner
Founder & Executive Director
Power The Future
Donna Jackson
Director of Membership Development
Project 21 Black Leadership Network
Ken Haapala
President
Science and Environmental Policy Project
Frank Lasee
President
Truth in Energy and Climate