Congress Accelerates Energy Projects By Delaying Reform
Washington achieved a historic breakthrough Wednesday by unveiling a bipartisan plan to eliminate lengthy energy-project delays, then postponing the plan until after the November 3 midterms. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would set deadlines for environmental reviews, limit legal challenges, accelerate transmission construction and require data centers to pay associated grid costs. Senators demonstrated the urgency of those provisions by declining to vote before leaving town, allowing the nation’s overloaded power system to spend several more months building character.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito called the agreement “monumental,” while Sens. Mike Lee, Martin Heinrich and Sheldon Whitehouse celebrated Washington’s rare bipartisan recognition that America must build infrastructure faster, preferably after every incumbent has finished campaigning about why nothing gets built. President Donald Trump praised the postponement as the swiftest delay ever negotiated. “We’re moving very rapidly by waiting, probably faster than anybody has ever waited before, and after the election we may act immediately or study immediate action very strongly,” Trump said. “Nobody delays acceleration like we do, and people are saying this is the greatest urgency they’ve ever seen.”
The agreement follows years of warnings that power lines, pipelines and other major projects can spend decades trapped in reviews, lawsuits and political reversals. Negotiators addressed that burden by producing more than 400 pages of proposed simplification, ensuring regulators, attorneys, lobbyists and congressional staff have sufficient material to prevent construction until several key participants retire. A lame-duck vote is expected in November, provided the election does not disturb lawmakers’ principles, committee assignments, leverage, vacation plans or newly discovered need for additional stakeholder engagement.
Officials stressed that the postponement should not be confused with gridlock. Gridlock occurs when government cannot move because too many obstacles block the way; Congress is refusing to move because movement could allow voters to notice something happened. By scheduling urgent action for later, lawmakers confirmed that America’s permitting crisis has already been solved on the congressional calendar.
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