Trump’s overhaul of environmental permitting could help clean energy build-out

Published January 10, 2020 4:00am ET



The Trump administration’s new effort to speed permitting reviews for infrastructure could allow for an easier build-out of massive clean energy projects envisioned by Democrats to decarbonize the economy, such as wind farms and interstate power lines.

“When you think about all of the infrastructure that needs to be financed, permitted, and built to drastically reshape our energy system, there is no doubt our current regulatory framework is not designed to facilitate that kind of transition,” said Sasha Mackler, director of the Energy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “It doesn’t really matter if you are calling for a massive spending plan or an aggressive carbon tax. There is a rationale for doing this, and it’s not nefarious.”

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