Making a $1B investment in the US? Trump pledges expedited permits — but there are hurdles
WASHINGTON — president-elect Donald Trump promises accelerated federal permitting for energy projects and other structures worth more than $1 billion. But like other Trump plans, the idea is likely to face regulatory and legislative hurdles, including a landmark law requiring federal agencies to consider environmental impacts before deciding on major projects.
In a message on his Truth Social site On Tuesday, Trump said that anyone making a $1 billion investment in the United States “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all environmental approvals.”
“Get ready to rock!!!” he added.
Although Trump did not specify who would be eligible for expedited approvals, dozens of energy projects proposed nationwide, from natural gas pipelines and export terminals to solar farms and offshore wind turbines, meet the billion-dollar criteria.
Environmental groups rejected the proposal, calling it illegal on its face and a clear violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, a 54-year-old law that requires federal agencies to study the potential environmental impacts of proposed actions and consider alternatives.
“Trump is unapologetically and literally offering to sell out America to the highest corporate bidder,” said Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, an environmental group. She said the plan was “clearly illegal” and another example of Trump “putting special interests and corporate polluters in charge, which would result in more pollution, higher costs and fewer energy choices for the American people.”
Alexandra Adams, chief of policy advocacy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Trump should be careful what he wishes for.
“What if someone wants to build a waste incinerator next to Mar-a-Lago or a coal mine next to Bedminster golf course?” she asked, referring to Trump’s Florida home and New Jersey golf club, respectively.
“There’s a reason Congress is requiring the administration to take a hard look at community impacts to make sure we don’t greenlight projects that do more harm than good. Cheerleading on social media does not change that reality,” Adams said.
Energy analyst Kevin Book said Trump’s post showed his usual flair for showmanship, but said there was a real concern underlying it: a bipartisan push to allow reforms to accelerate major environmental projects that now take years to complete they get approval.
“The bottom line here is that he is really serious about trying to implement reforms,” said Book, managing partner at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington research firm.
“Permitting delays are a barrier in many sectors – including the energy sector – and multi-billion dollar investments await permitting reforms,” Book said.
A bipartisan plan championed by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the committee’s top Republican, would speed permitting for major energy and mineral projects, but the odds are uncertain in the last few weeks of the current crisis. Congress.
Their plan would boost all types of energy projects, drive down prices, create domestic jobs and allow the U.S. to continue its role as a global energy leader, Barrasso and Manchin say.
Critics say the bill would open vast expanses of public lands and waters to oil and gas drilling and undermine executive and judicial review.
“Checking off wish lists for oil, gas and mining companies does not allow for reform,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. He called the bill “a dirty deal” that would exempt some oil and gas drilling projects from federal oversight and “let mining companies dump even more toxic waste on our public lands.”
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said Trump’s second term will be a “golden age of regulatory cuts,” including a promise to “drill, baby, drill.”
“If you want to get money, he’s going to move heaven and earth to get that money and invest it in the United States,” Miller said Tuesday at a conference organized by the Wall Street Journal.
The plan applies to both domestic and foreign investments, Miller said: “He wants to get the money and he wants to see regulations reduced and the economy restarted. ”
In the short term, Trump’s post makes authorizing reforms this year less likely, Book said, as Republicans try to wait until next year, when they will control both chambers of Congress and the White House. But the issue is likely to return soon in the new year.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this story.