NY Times - The Senate this week is debating a bill on a subject that is more important than it sounds: permitting reform. The bill would make it easier to build solar energy farms, battery storage, power lines and more. As a result, it would reduce energy prices. The status quo is expensive, dirty and unstable. The country needs to build a lot of big, new things to make its future cheaper and cleaner.
The bill has the support of some of the Senate’s most environmentally minded members — and of the White House. This political miracle reflects years of bipartisan negotiations, false starts and near misses. But following their party’s whopping midterm victory, some Democrats are tempted to scrap this legislation and wait to act until they take control of Congress next year. Democrats would then draft a new bill more to the liking of some environmental groups.
The current bill has a good chance to pass the Senate. By a margin of 73 to 25, senators approved a procedural measure on Monday, with a final vote expected in coming weeks. The situation in the House is murkier. Among the potential no votes on the bill is Mr. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, who has raised concerns about it.
The bill’s Democratic skeptics are making a mistake. President Trump would almost certainly veto a follow-up bill next year. And time matters, especially for the climate. Congress should pass this bill now. It can then return next year and pass other bills that would do even more good.
The country’s current permitting regime is the result of many good intentions. Legislators wrote laws intended to protect water, air, endangered species and precious land. Over the years, though, the rules have become so complex and restrictive that the country cannot build the future it needs. This complexity feeds cynicism about whether government can get anything done....
Opponents of the bill, such as the Sierra Club, complain that it might harm the environment. That concern is misplaced. Yes, the bill would ease the construction of a range of projects, including fossil fuel infrastructure. But the United States will not stop using oil or natural gas anytime soon, and adding unnecessary costs to those projects serves little purpose. On net, the bill would cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by as much as 18 percent by 2040, according to the Rhodium Group, a research firm. It would do so in part by nearly tripling the construction of high-voltage transmission lines, which whiz electricity from often remote wind farms and solar plants to cities that need power.
.... The bill draws support from passionate climate crusaders such as Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. Both of Georgia’s senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, voted to advance it this week. Practical-minded environmental groups such as the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions have endorsed it, as has Consumer Reports.
