Permits for US Energy Projects Are So Bad Unlikely Allies Emerge
The renewables and fossil fuel industries—and Democrats and Republicans in Washington—are uniting in their push to streamline the country’s thicket of regulations.
The US must fast-track investment in new transmission lines in places like New Mexico, where this cattle farm is located, to meet climate goals.
Photographer: Adria Malcolm/Bloomberg
In the US, the most elusive piece of any new energy project isn’t material such as copper or steel, labor or even capital. It’s a permit: Without the right approvals, nothing gets built.
When developers want to put up a power line or lay a gas pipeline, they must run a regulatory gauntlet that can consume more than a decade. The permitting process is so slow and convoluted that the clean energy and fossil fuel industries, along with Democrats and Republicans, are united in calling for reform.