A battle over the permitting process in energy infrastructure construction projects has moved to a new stage with a vote in the House of Representatives.
Members have now given their approval by a 225 to 204 margin to the Lower Energy Costs Act, a bill repealing a part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Proponents of the Lower Energy Costs Act, notes the New York Times, argue that it removes “red tape surrounding the construction of energy infrastructure.” That red tape largely applies to gas and oil pipeline construction.
The new legislation is particularly designed to reduce some environmental reviews that are currently required to build pipelines. If it becomes law, the bill will also relax requirements for the maintenance and repair of electric grid infrastructure, while imposing deadlines for the environmental review of projects.
The Lower Energy Costs Act has won the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among other industry groups. Marty Durbin, president of the Global Energy Institute, which is a part of the Chamber, said the bill will “advance important policies to improve the permitting process, ensure strong domestic energy production, protect energy exports, and increase production and processing of our own critical materials.”
Similarly, Jason Grumet, chief executive officer of the American Clean Power Association, said the Lower Energy Costs Act will “create a predictable and timely federal permitting framework which is critical to the future development of America’s vast clean energy resources.”
Opposition to the legislation has been spirited, with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remarking that “the central argument and logic of this bill is that if you give Big Oil everything they want, then perhaps they will lower our gas prices.”
Ocasio-Cortez added: “It’s a form of trickle-down fantasy that will just not make life easier for everyday Americans.”
In a statement, the National Parks Conservation Association, said the Lower Energy Costs Act is “anti-conservation at its core, prioritizing drilling and mining on public lands above all other recreation and natural and cultural resource protection by fast-tracking these extraction activities.”
While the legislation has already been introduced in the Senate, its chances of passage there currently appear dim.
By Garry Boulard
