OPINION:
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources last month voted overwhelmingly to advance “compromise” legislation that’s supposed to address the approval process for permits granting companies access to explore for oil and gas as well as to expand America’s energy infrastructure.
Like all such overwhelmingly bipartisan bills — it passed 15-4 — the troubling aspects are found not in the top-line summary, but in the fine print. The details suggest it is more of a power grab.
Permitting reform is overdue, but S. 4753 fails to address the fundamental shortcomings of the existing federal process. It just restates existing law governing access to oil and gas exploration and a sets a handful of mostly unenforceable permitting timelines.
The legislation does not solve the permitting or building infrastructure hurdles created by the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act or any other federal statute.
An administration that’s out to put the fossil fuel industry out of business is the biggest drag on approval of permits right now. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for example, revoked the job-creating Keystone XL pipeline’s permit on their first day in office — demonstrating to all observers that green was in, and black gold was out. They made sure that only expensive and inefficient projects involving windmills and solar panels were placed on the fast track.
Under the proposed legislation, Democratic administrations would retain the same ability to hobble fossil fuel development by simply refusing to approve permits, which means the bill won’t actually provide any relief.
What it will do, however, is hand the federal government additional authorities to override local concerns about the electricity grid. This includes power over siting of transmission facilities. It includes socializing the costs of such facilities in ways that ensure that ratepayers end up paying for the new transmission lines even when they derive no benefit from them.
In effect, the proposal transforms the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission into a national transmission regulator. State public utility commissions — which are substantially more accountable to actual ratepayers than the bureaucrats at FERC — will see their authority and purpose give way to Uncle Sam’s whims.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, was the lone naysayer on the GOP side. He offered an amendment that would have given regional authorities a say in whether transmission lines are used, instead of vesting sole authority in the feds. It was rejected.
Republican committee staff have mentioned in more than one meeting with potential supporters that now is the moment to press for the legislation. They believe former President Donald Trump would surely veto a federal takeover of the electric grid, should he take office in January. So, they’re looking to accelerate the timeline for passage.
That offers the first clue why Republican senators ought to think twice before supporting this legislation. They ought especially to oppose any attempt to sneak it through during the lame-duck session while the public’s attention is diverted elsewhere.
The permitting process is indeed in need of an overhaul, but embracing the mere appearance of reform isn’t going to reduce the cost of energy for consumers. While this measure awaits action on the Senate floor, the GOP ought to take the opportunity to give the fine print a much closer look.
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