“Unfortunately, Congress has thus far shied away from addressing the crucial roadblock illustrated by the Cardinal-Hickory saga: the litigation doom loop.”
@ArnabDatta321
@EnergyLawProf
Many years review times and heavy litigation is the result of a legal environment created by Congress, judicial rulings, and decisions made by federal agencies. We can not switch to cleaner and cheaper energy if this legal gauntlet is not greatly limited.
Great new post in Slow Boring by
@ArnabDatta321
and
@EnergyLawProf
!
Excessive litigation is the heart of the problem with NEPA and many permitting delays.
And clean energy increasingly gets the short end of the stick.
The “litigation doom loop” is a huge problem for clean energy deployment.
Solar projects that receive the strictest level of NEPA environmental review have the highest litigation rate:
64%
By contrast, fossil fuel projects only have a 32% litigation rate.
Don't listen to the doomers.
Projected global warming has fallen by a third since 2014.
Progress on climate change is possible with public & private investment in clean technology.
Good news on permitting reform!
The Department of Energy is giving a categorical exclusion from NEPA environmental review to:
- transmission projects that use existing rights of way
- solar projects on disturbed lands
- energy storage projects on disturbed lands
It’s time to put an end to the NIMBY non-profit industrial complex.
There are 100s of example like this where non-profits have taken it upon themselves to stop much needed development in the name of their mission. In reality, it hurts their mission and everyone around them.
If headline editors would just add “using NEPA” to every headline where it applies we would have real permitting reform within 3 months.
Frankly they are doing the world a disservice by not adding those two words every time.
2020:
Sierra Club sues to stop a transmission line from brining clean hydropower from Canada to Maine
2024:
Sierra Club sues the Maine government for not doing enough to combat climate change
In 1944, Congress authorized ~$12 billion for the Manhattan Project (in today’s dollars).
But only 8 congressmen knew they were funding the bomb.
New Statecraft with reporter
@CatieEdmondson
, on hiding big secrets from Congress.
Statecraft's
@rSanti97
has a fascinating interview with
@CatieEdmondson
on "her obsessive attempts" to understand how the USG largely hid from Congress the $800m Congress appropriated for the Manhattan project.
🌋⚡ A Quick Q&A on ... advanced geothermal energy with Arnab Datta
'American industry has unique advantages — we’ve pioneered technologies like fracking and horizontal drilling that allow us to dig deeper and create reservoirs.'