Let’s lock in these big climate benefits 🔒
Ask Congress to pass the Energy Permitting Reform Act
by the end of this year
What do we like about the Energy Permitting Reform Act?
The Energy Permitting Reform Act touches on a lot of different energy sources, and it includes measures to clarify and streamline the processes around them. Here are some provisions and impacts of the bill that we really like:
1. Strong clean energy targets and faster timelines
On clean energy, The Energy Permitting Reform Act (S.4753) includes strong targets for building renewable energy on federal lands; speeds up the permitting of energy projects; speeds up the permitting of geothermal energy exploration projects and hold geothermal lease sales on federal lands; and extends deadlines for proposed hydroelectric projects running behind schedule.
2. More electrical transmission lines, sooner
The Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 requires transmission operators to include inter-regional transmission in their planning (similar to the BIG WIRES Act, which we have lobbied for in the past). The legislation also gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the authority to permit big important interstate electrical transmission lines and to fairly allocate the costs of new transmission lines proportional to their benefits. These are important changes that will lead to more electrical transmission lines getting built sooner — vital to connecting clean energy projects and meeting our climate goals.
3. Significant net reduction in America’s climate pollution
The most respected voices in climate and energy modeling have weighed in on the climate impacts of the Energy Permitting Reform Act: Resources for the Future, Rocky Mountain Institute, Jesse Jenkins from Princeton University’s Zero Lab, and Third Way. This expert team released their findings in early September 2024.
In every scenario they modeled, these groups found that the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 will reduce America’s climate pollution. In the most ambitious scenario, the modeling suggests that the Energy Permitting Reform Act could deliver up to a 25% cut in total U.S. climate pollution between 2030 and 2050. Even in a more modest scenario, CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli says we can estimate that the Energy Permitting Reform Act could deliver about a 10% cut in total American climate pollution over those two decades.
Learn more about the Energy Permitting Reform Act:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do we need clean energy permitting reform?
A slow permitting process is creating a bottleneck that’s slowing down the deployment of key technologies like electrical transmission lines, and thus clean energy projects like solar and wind farms that need those transmission lines to connect to the power grid. Clean energy permitting reform is crucial to loosen that bottleneck, bring more clean energy online sooner, and cut climate pollution as fast as possible.
As detailed above, the most respected voices in climate and energy modeling have weighed in on the climate impacts of the Energy Permitting Reform Act, finding that the bill will reduce climate pollution in every scenario they modeled. In the most ambitious scenario, the modeling suggests that the Energy Permitting Reform Act could deliver up to a 25% cut in total U.S. climate pollution between 2030 and 2050. Even in a more modest scenario, CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli says we can estimate that the Energy Permitting Reform Act could deliver about a 10% cut in total American climate pollution over those two decades.
Click here to learn more about the benefits of clean energy permitting reform.
Why are we asking for clean energy permitting reform now?
The passage of the ADVANCE Act earlier this year showed us Congress can and will come together to support permitting reforms for energy that doesn’t create climate pollution.
The introduction of this bipartisan bill, and its prompt passage by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, suggests momentum in this area. Let’s add our voices and keep building support for the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (S.4753) to help get it over the finish line before the end of this Congress!
What clean energy permitting reform provisions were passed in the debt ceiling bill?
The 2023 debt ceiling deal (a.k.a. the Fiscal Responsibility Act) contains the following provisions:
- Designates a lead agency when multiple federal agencies are involved in the permitting of an energy project.
- All agencies would work together on a single environmental review document rather than each agency creating duplicative work.
- Sets time and page limits on environmental assessments and impact statements (1 and 2 years, respectively). Federal agencies will be allowed to extend the deadlines in coordination with project applicants is necessary.
- Allows project applicants to choose to write environmental documents themselves and have agencies review them and take responsibility for their accuracy
Basically, it made the NEPA permitting process more efficient, speeding up the approval of new clean energy projects. But there’s still more to be done, so the Energy Permitting Reform Act is an important next step.
What is the BIG WIRES Act?
The BIG WIRES Act is a current bill fostering permitting reform conversation in both the House and Senate. CCL supported this bill in previous volunteer actions because it directly addresses the issue of energy transmission. We also held more than 350 lobby meetings in November 2023 where we pushed for its passage. Key elements of the BIG WIRES Act are included in the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. The bill requires transmission planning regions to create a strategy to connect U.S. grid regions and speed the development of new interregional transmission lines, which are core provisions from BIG WIRES Act, according to sponsor Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA-50).
What provisions do we want to see in a new permitting reform package?
Good permitting reform should speed up new clean energy projects and also bump up our capacity to transmit that clean energy. That’s what we’ve been asking Congress to do for a while now. And good news: The Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 does both, and more! Dive more into the policy specifics of this legislation here.
Will permitting reform increase fossil fuel production?
Most of the new infrastructure proposed in the U.S. is now for clean energy. Reports from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory find that in 2021, 85% of new energy capacity was clean energy. More than 97% of new energy projects currently awaiting permits are clean energy, and just 3% are natural gas. In each of the past three years, 84% of new energy capacity built in the United States was clean energy.
In the case of this particular legislation, there are some fossil fuel provisions included. Even with those provisions, expert modeling suggests that the Energy Permitting Reform Act could deliver as much as a 25% cut in total U.S. climate pollution between 2030 and 2050.
Should I customize my message to Congress?
How else can I help?
You only need to call your members of Congress once yourself. Then, share this page with any friends, family and coworkers who want to help reduce America’s climate pollution!
Who is Citizens’ Climate Lobby?
Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots advocacy climate change organization that exists to create the political will for climate change solutions by enabling individual breakthroughs in the exercise of personal and political power.
Our consistently respectful, nonpartisan approach to climate education is designed to create a broad, sustainable foundation for climate action across all geographic regions and political inclinations.
CCL empowers everyday people to work with their community and their members of Congress. Our supporters cover the political spectrum and work in more than 450 local chapters. Together, we’re building support for a national bipartisan solution to climate change.
