REMINDER: Tell Members Of Congress To Approve Permitting Reform

A new report by the bipartisan nonprofit organization Third Way has determined a Senate bill that would streamline the federal permitting process for both clean energy and fossil fuel infrastructure projects would lead to a “significant” drop in global greenhouse gas emissions.

The Third Way’s independent analysis pulls from new scholarship by leading energy system modelers at Resources for the Future (RFF), the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University.

Read the report at this link.

As Connecting the Dots reported earlier this summer, a key U.S. Senate committee has advanced the legislation. Unfortunately, while this bill has strong support among both Democrats and Republicans, it faces a long road to passage in the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress. In fact, it is unclear whether or not Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will even allow a vote on it.

As such, the Metals Service Center Institute and its partners at the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA) are asking interested member company leaders and employees to call their lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to ask that they support this legislation and pressure leaders to schedule a vote in both chambers of Congress on it. The EEIA has created a one-page fact sheet individuals can use to guide their efforts. Click here to view that document.

With prompt action, there is a good opportunity to boost its chances for passage of this legislation before the 2024 election. As a reminder, this bill, introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and John Barrasso (R-Wy.) and called the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, would:

• Institute a 150-day statute of limitations for lawsuits opposing energy projects and mandate expedited court review of legal challenges;
• Ensure the federal government conduct at least one offshore oil and gas sale and one wind sale annually from 2025 to 2029, with minimum acreage requirements;
• Double production targets for permitting renewable energy projects on federal lands, to 50 gigawatts; and
• Protect grid reliability by requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to assess future federal regulations that significantly affect power plants and offer formal comments to federal agencies about any effects on electric reliability.