Will a permitting overhaul be in a debt limit deal?
from Climate 202, WaPo
Here are three reasons it might not be.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden speaks before a meeting on the debt limit in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has pushed to include Republicans’ energy package — including provisions aimed at speeding up the permitting process for energy projects — in a deal to raise the government’s debt ceiling.
But his efforts to include a permitting overhaul face long odds, for at least three big reasons.
For one thing, when Democrats and Republicans talk about “permitting reform,” they’re talking about very different things. Republicans have primarily sought to speed up the permitting process for fossil fuel and mining projects, while Democrats have largely tried to expedite clean-energy projects and transmission lines.
For another matter, lawmakers have until sometime in June to lift the debt ceiling or risk a calamitous default. But it would probably take longer to iron out any bipartisan deal on permitting, given the significant differences between the parties.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the debt limit negotiations have shown little sign of progress. The White House has insisted on a “clean” debt limit increase that doesn’t include any policy concessions, and McCarthy said he saw no “new movement” in a roughly hour-long meeting yesterday with President Biden and congressional leaders, our colleagues Tyler Pager, Jeff Stein, Liz Goodwin and Leigh Ann Caldwell report.Here’s what to know about these three reasons and how they could complicate efforts to streamline America’s lengthy permitting process:
1. PARTY DIFFERENCES
Several congressional Republicans have introduced permitting legislation that focuses primarily on accelerating the approval of oil, gas, coal and mining projects.
Legislation from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) would make it harder for states to deny certification of fossil fuel projects under the Clean Water Act.
Another measure from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) would require the Interior Department to resume quarterly oil and gas lease sales on public lands, among other things.
In contrast, several Democrats have unveiled permitting proposals that primarily try to expedite wind turbines, solar farms and the transmission lines needed to carry clean power across the country.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) recently reintroduced a bill that would empower the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ease the process of constructing transmission lines.
Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.) also recently unveiled a discussion draft of legislation that would give FERC similar powers while directing the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management to establish priority areas for wind, solar and geothermal energy.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), one of the most vocal climate hawks on Capitol Hill, told The Climate 202 yesterday that he would not support any permitting deal that doesn’t help transmission. “If there’s no facilitation for transmission, I’m out,” he said.
Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters yesterday that he would aim to introduce his own permitting proposal by Memorial Day.
A Carper aide told The Climate 202 that the forthcoming bill would probably include a section on transmission that doesn’t “completely reinvent the wheel” and resembles some of these existing proposals.
2. TIME CRUNCH
Then there’s the matter of timing. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen has warned that the government could default as early as June 1 if no action is taken, leaving a mere three weeks for lawmakers to forge a consensus on permitting.
“We would suggest that June 1 leaves insufficient time for Congressional negotiators to reach a substantive deal on permitting reform … or other energy policy priorities,” analysts with ClearView Energy Partners wrote in a note to clients yesterday.
Still, the analysts acknowledged that the “x-date” when the government can’t pay all its bills without borrowing could occur some time between June and August. If the deadline slips to August, “that timing could preserve the viability of a debt ceiling bill as a vehicle for energy policy,” they wrote.
3. LITTLE PROGRESS
Yet McCarthy emerged from yesterday’s White House meeting with little progress to show.
“Everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at,” he said. “I didn’t see any new movement.”
McCarthy added that he was disappointed Biden has so far refused to negotiate on permitting as part of the debt limit talks. “Changing the red tape on the permitting reform so that we can build things again — I thought that was a common-ground idea,” he said.
NEXT STEPS THIS WEEK
While it remains unclear whether negotiators can resolve their standoff over the debt ceiling — much less differences over permitting — key events this week could offer some important clues.
Today, White House climate adviser John Podesta will outline the Biden administration’s position on permitting during an event at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Podesta has already said Biden supports a permitting proposal from Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that would set two-year time limits on environmental reviews of major projects and expedite the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, among other things.
On Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a much-anticipated hearing on permitting. Manchin chairs the committee and will probably tout his bill.
And on Friday, congressional leaders and Biden will aim to meet again. Congressional and White House staff members will also talk throughout the week.