Emma Dumain and Kelsey Brugger of E&E News report on Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), and his push to convince Democrats to address NEPA reform.
- The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) delays the buildout of energy, transmission, and infrastructure projects by years, stifling innovation.
- NEPA’s inefficient process has disproportionately harmed clean energy and transmission projects.
- Conservation methods like prescribed burns and mechanical thinnings are also delayed by years because of NEPA, which makes wildfires more costly and dangerous.
- Modernizing NEPA is not an excuse to institute lax environmental standards, instead it would provide regulatory clarity to businesses and innovators.
“‘If you’re a climate advocate, you really gotta start with how you build stuff faster,’ Peters said. ‘And if you accept the challenge of climate change, and you accept how we have to follow the science, it is inevitable that you will accept the fact that we have to change these processes.'”
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.
