Energy costs are climbing across the country — electricity bills, gas prices, home heating costs — and those costs ripple through the rest of the economy. After years of political impasse, the Senate has finally reached a bipartisan permitting reform agreement to help address it.

A deal is not a law, and Congress has a real talent for finding new ways to miss a finish line. But lawmakers must not lose sight of how badly the status quo is failing Americans while they finish the job.