Democrat tells industry to press White House on wind, solar permits
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Business groups and others eager to streamline the federal process for green-lighting projects need to lobby the Trump administration, not Congress, a key Democrat said Wednesday.
Why it matters: Capitol Hill observers are clamoring for Congress to pass a bill this year that speeds approvals for energy and other projects.
- Those groups contend that a permitting overhaul must be done through legislation for any changes to be meaningful and consistent.
Driving the news: At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said the administration is unnecessarily stalling wind and solar projects.
- "You've got to talk to the administration," Whitehouse, the panel's ranking Democrat, told the industry and other officials testifying at the hearing. "You don't have a problem in this room. I think your problem is at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue."
- Whitehouse said the Interior Department has only approved one wind or solar project recently because of Secretary Doug Burgum's insistence on scrutinizing each project.
- Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's top Democrat, said at a Tuesday event that Burgum's call for closer reviews "basically articulates dozens and dozens of fairly trivial processes, the kind of documents that have to land on his desk, and it has resulted in this great morass of just non-progress."
Catch up fast: The administration said last month it would immediately pause all leases for five offshore wind projects under construction due to "national security risks."
- Since then, judges have granted temporary injunctions allowing four of the projects to proceed.
The other side: "While we don't respond [to] members of Congress through the media, the continued review of wind and solar energy projects ensures these projects — regardless of whether they are proposed on federal, state or private lands — receive appropriate oversight when federal resources, permits or consultations are involved," an Interior spokesperson said in a statement.
- "This comprehensive review process strengthens accountability, prevents misuse of taxpayer-funded subsidies and upholds our commitment to restoring balance in energy development."
- Several Republican senators at the hearing cited Biden administration policies that they said discriminated against fossil fuels. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers echoed their sentiments.
- "President Trump's common-sense reversal of the left's Green New Scam was necessary to stop the unfair, preferential treatment given to green energy sources like wind and solar and to fix the grid crisis that Joe Biden created," Rogers said in a statement.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the White House.
