OPINION:
The United States is in a global race that will define our economic and national security future. Energy, advanced manufacturing, and AI are the building blocks of leadership in the 21st century. Yet America is trying to compete with one hand tied behind its back.
Our broken permitting system is slowing us down. Projects that should be done in months take years. Uncertainty replaces predictability. Investment gets delayed, or worse, redirected overseas. That is not just a regulatory problem. It is a competitiveness problem, and one we can no longer afford to ignore.
American chemistry is at the center of this moment. Our industry makes energy systems more efficient, strengthens the electric grid and delivers the advanced materials that power AI, semiconductors, and data centers. Simply put, without chemistry there is no American energy dominance.
The United States has a real advantage that sets us apart from global competitors: abundant, affordable energy. U.S. natural gas remains a critical strength. It supports reliable power generation and serves as the key feedstock for chemical manufacturing. This advantage is a major reason energy-intensive industries continue to invest in America.
But that edge is not guaranteed.
Today, even as demand for energy and advanced technologies surges, our permitting system is failing to keep pace. Our industry produces specialized materials essential to cooling and operating AI data centers. When permitting delays and infrastructure constraints make it harder to build those projects here at home, investment is pushed overseas. That should concern anyone who cares about U.S. competitiveness and national security.
Electricity demand is rising rapidly, driven in part by the growth of AI and data infrastructure. At the same time, electricity prices are increasing, and the gap between the United States and other markets is narrowing. If we want to remain the most attractive place in the world to build and manufacture, we need policies that expand energy supply, modernize infrastructure and keep power affordable.
That starts with permitting reform.
A modern, pro-growth permitting system is essential to protecting America’s energy advantage. Manufacturers need reliable access to power and feedstocks, along with a predictable and efficient process to build facilities, expand capacity, and strengthen supply chains. Today’s system is too slow, too uncertain and too fragmented. Modernizing it would mean clearer timelines, fewer duplicative reviews and greater transparency, without weakening environmental protections.
This is why legislation like the bipartisan Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act matters. It delivers balanced, bipartisan reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act that cut red tape, establish firm deadlines and move critical projects forward. These reforms would help unlock affordable energy, resilient infrastructure and advanced manufacturing that keeps America ahead of global competitors and foreign adversaries.
Permitting reform is essential to deploying new energy-efficient technologies at scale. Chemistry delivers the materials that allow power plants, factories and data centers to do more with less energy, but those gains only matter if projects can be built in the United States. When permitting slows deployment, it limits capacity, raises costs and weakens America’s competitiveness.
These are the costs of delay, and Congress has the power to address them.
Congress should act quickly to pass the SPEED Act. This is not about politics. It is about competitiveness. It is about whether America can build, innovate, and lead.
If we want the United States to remain the global leader in energy, AI and next-generation manufacturing, we must fix the system that determines whether projects move forward at all. Smarter permitting will unleash American energy, reinforce our manufacturing base and secure a stronger, more resilient future powered by American chemistry and built by American workers.
• Chris Jahn is the President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council.
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