President Trump has wasted no time putting his imprint on American energy policy. Within hours of his swearing in, he signed a dizzying array of relevant executive orders, including one titled “Unleashing American Energy.” While most of the attention has revolved around the president’s focus on producing more domestic oil and gas — “liquid gold,” as he called it in his inaugural address — this order, as well as some of the others, recognizes the foundational issue necessary for realizing America’s full energy potential: permitting reform.
The litany of complaints about the U.S. permitting system could fill volumes — maybe even as much space as the typical environmental impact statement that is often used to stop new projects in their tracks. And the system is an equal opportunity project-eliminator. It stops natural gas pipelines, electricity transmission, renewable energy projects and critical minerals mines. S&P Global recently reported an eyepopping statistic: It takes an average of 29 years for new mines in the U.S. to go from discovery to production, longer than in any other country except Zambia. For transmission lines, the review timeline can take a decade or more.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.