‘Quicker To Get A College Degree’ Than A Permit: Energy Leaders Say Delays Are Holding Back American Power

WASHINGTON — Energy policy leaders urged Congress on Thursday to pass a bipartisan permitting deal before the fast approaching midterm elections.

Senate negotiators are close to a package that would speed up federal approvals for energy projects, Jeremy Harrell, CEO of ClearPath and ClearPath Action, said during a Thursday panel discussion co-hosted by the Daily Caller and the Daily Caller News Foundation. The panel was part of “Daily Caller Live: The New Age of American Power,” an event which Harrell’s nonprofit presented.

“It’s quicker to get a college degree in this country than it is to get a permit,” Harrell said. He noted that regulators and developers overanalyze projects during federal environmental reviews to protect themselves from lawsuits.

Any agreement would still need to pass the House and Senate and receive President Donald Trump’s signature to become law.

“I think we’re going to see a package get across the finish line,” Harrell said. “I think there’s political reasons for both parties to want to get this done before the election. It’s possible that we’ll even see a proposal out in the next couple weeks.”

Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Mike Lee of Utah, who respectively chair the Environment and Energy committees, are negotiating the package with the top Democrats on those panels, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, respectively, according to Harrell. Whitehouse said Monday in an address to the New England Council that negotiators were “down to the last strokes.”

Harrell spoke on the panel alongside former Republican Texas state Rep. Jason Isaac, founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, and Liam Donovan, executive director of America Leads Alliance. Daily Caller senior politics editor Will Upton moderated the discussion.

The panel followed a Wednesday forum on climate lawsuits at the National Press Club, where former Attorney General Bill Barr told the DCNF that those cases could strengthen China and Russia.

“In my 20 years in Washington, I think the parties have never been closer at wanting to do a broader package that provides some regulatory predictability for developers,” Harrell said during the panel. “Permit reform now is the time.”