Time has run out for substantive permitting reform to happen this year. The must-pass National Defense Authorization Act came and went without any inclusion of regulatory change. Now, negotiators have given up on including it in the continuing resolution funding bill that must pass this week. Permitting reform is not just an economic concern. It is a national security concern, and Congress would have been wise to get a deal done this year that would have allowed industries the vital time they need to build out U.S. energy infrastructure.

Once seen as a purely partisan matter, the role burdensome federal regulations play in preventing the construction of vital energy infrastructure has recently become a bipartisan concern as Democrats have realized their goal of a transition to a clean energy economy requires not just building solar, wind, and geothermal projects, but also massive new investments in transmission lines and electrical substations.