ARLINGTON, VA— With new reports predicting AI will drive massive new energy demand in coming years, Americans for Prosperity Policy Fellow Faith Burns delivers a timely and powerful message in an OpEd in Real Clear Policy on the role energy permitting plays in unleashing the power of American Energy.
From Real Clear Policy:
Energy Demand is Surging
The Time is Now for Permitting Reform
“America’s electrical grid is in dire need of attention. Energy demand is surging. America needs more baseload power generation to lead the world in AI and other emerging technologies. A report produced by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that data center load growth has tripled over the past decade and is projected double or triple by 2028.”
“Recognizing this landscape, energy policy experts on both sides of the political spectrum agree on at least one thing – the need for permitting reform. The American people cannot continue to wait years for agency approvals so that much needed pipelines, electric transmission lines, and energy infrastructure can be built. Congress can and must act now to clean up the permitting morass that has hindered the energy sector for decades.”
Here’s why.
“Time is money. And the longer the time period needed for permit approval, the greater the likelihood that a project will be saddled with increased costs. According to a recent White House Council on Environmental Quality report, from the time period January 2019 to December 2024, across all federal agencies, the median time to complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was 2.8 years. The report further noted this was an improvement from the 2010 to 2018 time frame when the median time was 3.2 years.”
“One noteworthy example of hindrances to critical infrastructure expansion is the Mountain Valley Pipeline. That project received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to commence service on June 11, 2024, nearly nine years after the initial application was filed on October 23, 2015. It took legislative language specifically approving all permits before the project could begin operation.”
“So, what can Congress do to reform the permitting process?”
Click here to find out: Energy Demand Is Surging – RealClearPolicy
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