Shawn Regan and Tate Watkins write in National Review on the ways in which red tape makes wildfires worse.
- America’s inefficient permitting system delays key energy and conservation projects from being completed.
- It takes an average of 3.6 years for a mechanical treatment and 4.7 years for a prescribed burn to get approved under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
- Delaying these conservation projects increases fuel load, makes wildfires more intense, and puts more communities in harm’s way.
- Policymakers must reform and modernize our permitting system to protect our natural and economic environment.
“But energy projects aren’t the only area where the elimination of such red tape is needed: America’s growing wildfire crisis has also been exasperated by bureaucratic sluggishness, and the problem deserves bipartisan attention.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
