Clean Energy Innovation, Is the Answer for USA’s Future

The prospect of a major bipartisan win is slowly materializing. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) recently met to discuss “common ground.”

As a proud Democrat who has long called for strengthening America’s infrastructure and advancing responsible climate solutions, I’m optimistic that the 118th Congress might soon clear out unnecessary federal red tape and get to the real business of advancing America’s energy security and combating climate change.

Their first task: overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA), a well-intentioned environmental law that has grown into a labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape. Currently, NEPA’s burdensome rules are time-consuming and a magnet for litigation, leaving too many renewable and non-renewable projects squandered. In his guidlines laid out last year, Senator Manchin proposes two-year limits on environmental reviews under NEPA, revisions to Clean Water Act approvals and limits on judicial review, and the creation of a new priority list of projects to include those for fossil fuels, nuclear energy, carbon capture, and renewables.