Energy Secretary Gives Her Backing to Permitting Reform Movement

A move is underway to push for speeding up of the permitting process for federal energy infrastructure projects.

Speaking before an event sponsored by the Washington Post, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm remarked that an accelerated permitting can be done without negatively impacting the National Environmental Policy Act, “and the other permitting rules that protect the environment.”

Granholm further explained that the goal of the permitting reform effort is to reduce delays and legal conflicts stemming from federal construction project policies.

“We do not want bureaucracy and the bureaucratic red tape underbrush to slow the need for us to secure energy,” the Energy Secretary continued, noting a determination to “make sure that the projects that are existing are retrofitted and buttoned down, especially if they’re fossil infrastructure, so that we don’t have methane leaks.”

A bill is currently under review in the House of Representatives calling for permitting reform, although that legislation has to date not received the official backing of the Biden Administration.
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Either way, said Granholm, “There needs to be much quicker permitting of all kinds of energy infrastructure, but particularly energy infrastructure that will lead us with alacrity to the goals of net zero by 2050.”

​By Garry Boulard

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