Join the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) for a webinar on the future of federal permitting reform.
With bipartisan conversations underway on the Hill and significant legislation having passed the House, Congress can address long-standing regulatory bottlenecks. But what does meaningful permitting reform look like? And what statutory changes need to be made to laws like the Clean Water Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act? Should electricity transmission be addressed, and if so, how?
Our expert panel will examine the principles that should guide policy, key statutory changes, and the potential pitfalls to avoid.
When: 12:00 – 1:00 pm EDT
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Sign up to join the conversation live and receive a link to the video archive following the event. Registration confirmation and event reminder emails will be sent from CEI Events at [email protected].
Questions: [email protected] or 202.331.2764
Daren Bakst is director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment and a senior fellow. He is also a visiting senior fellow with the Pacific Legal Foundation. Before joining CEI, Daren was a senior research fellow in Environmental Policy and Regulation at the Heritage Foundation, policy counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and director of legal and regulatory studies at the John Locke Foundation. Daren received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from George Washington University. A licensed attorney, he holds a law degree from the University of Miami and a master of laws degree from American University.
Austin Lipari is counsel at Boyden Gray PLLC and previously advised Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman and Commissioner James P. Danly. He also served as senior counsel in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy and held several policy roles in the Trump Administration. Previously, he served as deputy general counsel at the Office of Personnel Management and on the 2016 presidential transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency. He earned his J.D. from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law and an A.B. magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from The Catholic University of America.
Josh T. Smith is a senior fellow for abundance, environment, and natural resources at the Pacific Legal Foundation. He is the author of Powering Spaceship Earth, a Substack covering energy abundance, innovation, and policy reform. Previously, he led immigration research at the Center for Growth and Opportunity and served as energy policy lead at the Abundance Institute, working to advance energy innovation, transmission, and market competition. Josh studied economics and political science at Utah State University.
Ben Lieberman is a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in environmental policy. Before rejoining CEI in 2018, Ben served for seven years as a senior counsel on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Earlier in his career, Lieberman completed a decade-long stint at CEI as well as five years at the Heritage Foundation. Lieberman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and his law degree from the George Washington University School of Law.