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Senate negotiators last week unveiled a compromise bill that, if passed, would constitute the most important reform to the American energy sector in generations. Unfortunately, the same forces that defeated previous permitting reform packages -- primarily left-wing interest groups -- are threatening to smother this legislation. Democrats would be wise to ignore the naysayers and take the win.
The package is enormous in scope and full of good ideas to boost every variety of energy development. That's crucial, given the soaring demand for new electricity to power the artificial intelligence boom. It's also necessary to power all the projects that environmentalists say they support to combat climate change, such as shifting toward electric vehicles and electrifying home heating.
Among the bill's most important provisions are reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act, the source of lengthy environmental reviews and endless lawsuits. The new bill would narrow NEPA's scope, such as by exempting projects to repair essential infrastructure from environmental reviews. The measure would also impose strict deadlines for lawsuits against a project; once an agency issues a decision about that development, opponents would have 150 days to sue.
A similar restriction would be placed on lawsuits filed under the National Historic Preservation Act. That law has led to routine nuisance suits that hinder vital construction, including a transmission line connecting cities across the Southwest to wind farms in New Mexico.
Another important element of the package would limit the ability of states to block necessary projects. For instance, developers currently looking to build a transmission line across multiple states must seek approval from each jurisdiction, and any state can essentially veto the project by simply not reviewing it. The result has been frozen investment in some regions, exacerbating congestion in local electricity grids and raising prices. The Senate's compromise addresses the problem by giving state officials a year to review a project, and if they fail to act, federal regulators could approve the proposal if they determine it is in the national interest.
The legislation restricts federal obstructionism, too. One provision prohibits agencies from taking "new action that would revoke, rescind, withdraw, terminate, suspend, amend, or alter a Federal authorization or permit." That's clearly in response to the Trump administration's shortsighted efforts to block wind energy projects.
The bill also includes provisions aimed at allowing utilities to charge data centers more for the energy infrastructure they use. The Senate measure has more teeth than the Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed the House last month with bipartisan support.
Even though many of these provisions would be a boon for clean energy industries, some environmentalist groups are gearing up to try killing the bill because of provisions that would make it easier to transport fossil fuels, especially through natural gas pipelines. Utilities, which have long opposed expanding federal control over interstate power lines, are also likely to mount a lobbying campaign.
Other Democrats are holding out in hopes that they can negotiate a better deal if they control the House and Senate next year. Among them is Rep. Jared Huffman (California), the top Democrat of the House Natural Resources Committee.
But this is a fantasy. No matter what happens in November, Democrats would need buy-in from Republicans to pass a bill through the Senate. They would also need President Donald Trump to sign any measure. Lawmakers may not like everything in the bill, but waiting for the perfect permitting reform package is a recipe for inaction and economic stagnation.