One of the Trump administration’s signature achievements was cutting the overwhelming red tape facing major infrastructure projects in America. This week the White House announced that it is delaying a key part of those reforms, with more significant changes to come. Rolling back the reforms would be a setback for all Americans, not least those who share President Biden’s commitment to social justice and climate action.
Most major infrastructure projects, such as bridges and solar projects, require federal permits and lengthy environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Since the law’s enactment, the process had become exorbitantly costly, time-consuming, and unpredictable. The result is that America’s infrastructure is the world’s costliest to build, with often prohibitive risk to capital investment — and that includes clean-energy infrastructure.
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