President Joe Biden’s landmark climate change bill is blocked by a lack of comprehensive permitting reform, and its absence means the green energy it would subsidize It allows for lawsuits by environmentalists to block the project.
The Inflation Control Act (IRA) included: hundreds of billions Although it provided millions of dollars to subsidize green energy projects across the country, the bill does not include major reforms to the permitting process that would speed up construction schedules and insulate development from environmental legal issues. Ta. Energy policy experts and officials told the Daily Caller News Foundation that these issues will continue to plague IRA enforcement unless Congressional Democrats are able to negotiate with Republicans to approve reforms in an election year. Ta.
Once solar or wind power has been developed, it must be connected to the power grid via power lines to provide power to the grid. Allowing the reforms would not only speed up the lengthy paperwork process for transmitting that electricity, but it would also provide developers with an additional layer of protection against environmental lawsuits that can block the construction of green energy developments. (Related: Blue states strip local counties of their ability to prevent green energy takeovers in their communities)
Democrats’ energy permitting reform bill includes billions of dollars for environmental activist groupshttps://t.co/okXWYcE3Ph
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But those reforms have yet to materialize, in part because Congressional Democrats cannot agree within their own party on what reforms should look like to counter Republican proposals. according to Go to E&E News.
“I think the lack of transmission reform will be a major barrier to implementing the IRA,” Isaac Orr, a policy analyst at the American Experiment Center who specializes in energy policy, told DCNF. “I think there was an understanding that in order for Democrats to take the IRA and do a lot of the things they wanted to do right off the bat, they needed permission to reform… In order to bring all this new capability into the IRA, it would take a It is a physical reality that the grid is necessary. “
A lack of reform has left many green energy developments open to legal challenges by environmental groups, which are pursuing similar legal strategies employed by opponents of fossil fuel infrastructure projects in the past. There are many things to do.
For example, a coalition of tribes and environmental groups file a lawsuit While trying to block a massive $10 billion power transmission project in Arizona, various coalitions are alleging violations of environmental laws on the part of offshore wind developers building wind farms in waters off the state’s coast. A lawsuit has been filed. Virginia and Massachusetts. Elsewhere in the country, conservation groups continue their long-running fight against the Cardinal Hickory Creek power line in Wisconsin. file a lawsuit The government should stop construction.
“Reforms aimed at streamlining the federal permitting decision-making process and discouraging frivolous litigation will not only improve regulatory efficiency but also provide greater certainty and predictability in the offshore wind sector. The National Oceanic Industry Association (NOIA) told DCNF. “Litigation, particularly over alleged flaws in the National Environmental Policy Act, has been a major hurdle for offshore wind projects. The robust U.S. offshore wind market, like other major infrastructure initiatives, is poised for growth. “We rely on the reliability and certainty of the permitting and regulatory processes that are essential to facilitating this and ensuring the success of these projects.”
Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a leading proponent of comprehensive permitting reform, said: I’ve tried Advancing legislation to expedite the permitting process and minimize the opportunity for litigation that stalls schedules for energy projects of all types.
In total, there are more than a dozen different permitting bills in Congress and two major regulatory initiatives underway at the federal level, but progress in streamlining the permitting process remains very slow. accordingly Go for a utility dive.
“The way all of these things, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, operate right now…you can’t build anything because of these statutes,” said Mike McKenna, a Republican strategist with extensive experience in and around the energy sector. He spoke to DCNF about Congress’ impasse in authorizing the reform.
“So I think we’re going to be in about a year and it’s going to be a seven or eight year process where everybody on the left starts to realize, ‘Oh my gosh, they were right, you can do it too.’ Please don’t make anything.”
Neither the White House nor the Department of Energy responded to requests for comment.
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