Political Quotes

“our Federal permitting process is broken. Back home in Wyoming, important infrastructure and energy projects are oftentimes delayed years due to mountains of regulation, redtape, bureaucracy, and even lawsuits. This is absolutely unacceptable. It is impossible for small businesses to even get off the ground thanks to these hurdles. It is time to reform our Federal permitting process, and I am glad some of my colleagues from across the aisle are coming around to the idea of permitting reform. Some on the left are finally warming up to reform to try to push renewable energy projects. Permitting reform needs to address all types of energy technologies, fuel, and projects. For that reason, any bipartisan effort needs to actually address the underlying statutes, including the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA; the Endangered Species Act; the Clean Water Act; and the Clean Air Act. Window dressing will no longer do. Since NEPA is the single most litigated environmental statute, litigation reform needs to be part of the final product. Litigation reflects something is broken; that it is not working well. Some would have you believe otherwise. Litigation is the result of something is not working well. The average time for NEPA processes is 4\1/2\ years-- nearly half a decade. We also need to think about the processes and projects that have never been started because of these challenges.…”