Washington, D.C. – Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), offered the following statement in response to congressional consideration of permitting reform proposals.

“It takes too much time for important energy infrastructure projects to be reviewed in the United States. These delays harm communities that seek improvements to degrading infrastructure and prevent the modernization and enhanced resilience of critical assets.

“Reforms to federal permitting processes are also imperative to achieving U.S. greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and clean energy deployment goals.

“Delayed action by Congress and the Biden Administration to enact permitting reform risks losing the full impact of the clean energy investments included in the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and bipartisan Energy Policy Act of 2020.

“Congress has a window to act now, and we must take advantage of it. BCSE commends both political parties for their thoughtful proposals and urges bipartisan agreement on permitting reform either as part of the continuing resolution that will be voted on later this month or other measures that Congress considers this year.