The flip of a switch to turn on our lights. Homes heated against the winter cold or air conditioning to provide relief from a sweltering summer day. Tupperware containers, diapers for the children, and stoves that light with the turn of a knob. While many of these items are things that we often take for granted, none of them would be possible without the oil and gas industry. The energy industry makes modern life possible.
Unfortunately, thanks to a federal permitting system that is outdated and in desperate need of updating, peoples’ living standards are now at risk. Often, when we hear the word “permitting,” our eyes glaze over because it’s difficult to imagine the real-world implications of a complex bureaucratic process. But that same process is now being weaponized to prevent the oil and gas industry from maintaining the capacity to power our homes and way of life.
According to an analysis by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in 2000, on average, it took two years for an energy infrastructure project to go from the point of its first permit being filed to becoming operational in the United States. This includes everything from interstate gas pipelines to renewable energy transmission projects.
More than 20 years later, in 2022, the average approval process took more than five years. And that five-year average? Well, that’s only if you actually get a permit in the first place.
Many energy projects have been caught up in litigation for decades. We have now reached the point where it is easier to build energy infrastructure in Canada or Western Europe than in the United States. This is simply not sustainable.
And it’s not just oil and gas projects caught up in this bureaucratic nightmare. An analysis by the Brookings Institution finds that only 21% of planned wind power transmission projects are under construction, while the rest remain caught up in the permitting phase. A number of projects were recently canceled, primarily due to permitting uncertainty. Meanwhile, global energy demand across the country continues to skyrocket, including demand for oil and gas.
The status quo is no longer feasible and is in fact dangerous. Energy access is vital to keep the lights on, power life-sustaining devices including heat and air, provide the energy to grow the food we eat, and keep the wheels rolling for our transportation and supply system.
As American energy production is hampered by regulatory and permitting burdens, many areas across the country are forced to import energy despite our nation having ample domestic resources. For example, New England lacks gas storage, its pipeline network is limited, and in the midst of a bad winter much of the existing capacity is dedicated to heating demand, prompting frequent warnings that the region’s gas plants could face interruptions in fuel supplies during an extended cold snap.
No one in America should face energy insecurity or be forced to rely on foreign shipments of gas due to the lack of domestic infrastructure, as New England now is. Absurdly, the majority of the gas delivered to the region comes from outside the U.S. due to the lack of pipelines. Never mind that the region is only 300 miles from the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania, which has significant natural gas resources available and is in close proximity to the densely populated and energy-thirsty East Coast.
So how do we break through the red tape and make sure Americans have ample energy? We have to start at the heart of the issue: permitting reform.
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It’s far past time for Congress to take up a robust permitting reform package that includes resuming regular oil and natural gas leasing as mandated by law, a full five-year offshore leasing plan, and an end to the liquefied natural gas export permit pause. Additionally, reforms must establish reasonable environmental analysis, expedite permitting, provide litigation reforms, and streamline the process for interstate pipelines, ending the ability for one rogue state to deny access to energy to other states.
The United States has an abundance of energy resources; what we lack is the ability to build the infrastructure to move this energy in a timely manner. Our leaders must come together and work out a bipartisan permitting bill to ensure American energy security for the 21st century.
Tim Tarpley is president of Energy Workforce & Technology Council, the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector, representing more than 650,000 U.S. jobs in the technology-driven energy value chain.
