A new bill in the Sunshine State’s legislature seeks to streamline the approval process for constructing nuclear reactors.
Author: Nick Loris
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Time to Waive the Jones Act Goodbye Forever
President Trump has suspended the Jones Act for 60 days to help lower gas prices. This raises the question: if the Jones Act is pushing up prices at the pump, why do we still have it? The simple, direct answer is that there are no valid reasons to keep it, and Congress should repeal it. ...
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Trump Already Won Gold Stopping Offshore Wind
In its most recent foray against offshore wind, the administration announced it would appeal court rulings that allowed five offshore wind projects to proceed despite last December’s blanket construction halt on national security grounds. Yet the Administration’s ongoing actions risk derailing the possibility of reforming our broken permitting system—a downside far greater than allowing five fully permitted wind projects to go forward.
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NRC Finishes TerraPower’s Construction Permit Ahead of Schedule
In a welcoming milestone, TerraPower received approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a construction permit for its advanced nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. The review, completed ahead of schedule, provides a hopeful signal that the United States is finally turning the corner on one of the biggest barriers to clean energy innovation: an outdated, slow, and unpredictable licensing and permitting system.
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How Donald Trump Softening His Tone on Wind Could Unlock Permitting Reform
The Trump administration recently announced it would appeal court rulings that allowed offshore wind projects to proceed with construction. This follows the administration’s halt to construction on five projects last December for national security reasons, even though those projects had already received permits and are nearly complete. If the goal is true American energy dominance, the bigger task is fixing the broken permitting system that slows every form of American energy infrastructure.
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LNG Exports Are an Economic and National Security Asset. Don’t Limit Them
If you ask the average person what the biggest technology breakthrough since the turn of the century has been, the smartphone is a safe bet for the most common answer. Recency bias could lead to some artificial intelligence (AI) responses. Unless you’re in the business or completely fixated with Landman, it’s unclear how many folks are saying the Shale Revolution.
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DOE Takes Important Step to Modernize Nuclear Permitting
The Department of Energy recently announced that certain advanced nuclear reactor projects can qualify for a categorical exclusion from the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) full review process. The move is a practical step forward to accelerate innovation, reduce unnecessary cost and delay, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness in nuclear energy.
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The Department of Energy Takes on ALARA
Last fall, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the audience at Senator John Curtis’ conservative climate summit that “nuclear is going to become sexy again.” For policy wonks and proponents of modernizing outdated nuclear regulation, there may be nothing sexier than reforming ALARA.
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Harnessing Rail for Resilient Supply Chains
From global pandemics to port congestion, extreme weather and rising transportation costs—our nation’s supply chains have been put to a severe test. New analysis from the Association of American Railroads (AAR) shows that some freight networks are inherently more stable during these disruptions.
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Can Expanding Transmission Reduce Electricity Costs?
Advocates of large-scale transmission expansion have recited a simple slogan for years: There is no transition without transmission. By this, they mean that the shift to renewable energy will require vast new power lines. Whatever one thinks of climate policy, that argument no longer carries much weight. The relevant question now is whether building more transmission will make electricity more affordable.