America’s historic levels of oil and natural gas production have been accompanied by, and in many cases contributed to, reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Domestic energy production is also an increasingly important factor in energy security and our foreign policy. In 2022, for example, American liquefied natural gas shipments to Europe replaced piped natural gas from Russia after the latter country’s invasion of Ukraine. This put a spotlight on the essential value of U.S. oil and natural gas, as well as the necessity for new infrastructure to move America’s abundant natural resources.
Modern infrastructure is key to meeting our energy needs and those of our allies, now and in the future.
President Joe Biden has indicated he understands the urgency for pipelines, LNG terminals, electric transmission lines, and more. Last year, with Congress considering legislation to reform the federal permitting processes for infrastructure, Biden said what many were thinking, that permitting reform would “cut Americans’ energy bills, promote U.S. security, and boost our ability to get energy projects built and connected to the grid.”
He was right. Energy projects take too long to get federal approval. We deny energy security to ourselves and our allies when it takes longer to get an infrastructure permit than it does to graduate college. “Today, far too many projects face delays,” Biden said in December 2022, “keeping us from generating critical, cost-saving energy needed by families and businesses across America. That’s an impediment to our economic growth, for creating new jobs, and for lessening our reliance on foreign imports.”
Yet, while Biden’s spot-on rhetoric was nice to hear, his administration’s subsequent actions tell a much different story. From the moment he took office, federal agencies have pursued regulatory actions to impede investment in energy production and infrastructure. Agencies and some lawmakers in Congress have acted to limit access to energy, increase costs, and postpone the approval of energy projects that could help our allies.
The latest example is among the worst. Last month, the White House announced that it was freezing pending and future U.S LNG projects. The decision is a win for Russia and a loss for American allies, U.S. jobs, and for genuine progress being made on reducing emissions.
For an administration inclined toward bad energy decisions, this one is hard to top. The pause on permits out of the U.S. Department of Energy risks preventing other countries from realizing the significant emissions reductions the United States has achieved from natural gas and could ultimately leave America’s allies in the dark.
But the president’s blatantly political decision in an election year fits a broader trend: This will make it harder for American companies to produce natural gas and oil. At nearly every turn in the past three years, the administration has erected regulatory barriers to oil and gas infrastructure improvement or creation.
Without key infrastructure projects, the U.S. energy system is less able to manage the impacts of major events, such as natural disasters or cold snaps, which can disrupt supply lines and cause price spikes.
The regulatory roadblocks are not just limited to oil and natural gas projects. Average environmental impact statement processes for all projects under the National Environmental Policy Act take four to six years to complete. And a 2017 study found that $157 billion in energy investment was stuck in the NEPA pipeline.
Beyond energy infrastructure, America needs more roads, bridges, and airports, all of which are hurt by permitting delays.
America’s energy abundance can be spread across the world to stabilize markets and alleviate energy poverty. But it can only accomplish these missions if infrastructure is not needlessly delayed by bureaucratic obstacles. Pending LNG projects should be approved in a timely way and domestic natural gas production supported to strengthen America’s energy security and ability to assist others around the world. Policies that slow oil and natural gas projects only weaken America’s energy advantage.
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Rob Jennings is vice president of Natural Gas Markets at the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C.
