The clean energy revolution is ready. We just need to cut some red tape. ✂️
America needs to build and connect clean energy projects faster.
Clean energy permitting reform is critical to meeting our climate targets.
Speeding up the pace with which we build and deploy new clean energy projects will reduce our carbon pollution 12% by 2030.
Critical legislation, like a price on carbon and the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, rely on clean energy permitting reform to have maximum effectiveness. Without clean energy permitting reform, we will only realize about 20% of the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential for emissions reductions by 2030.
Join Citizens’ Climate Lobby to advocate for permitting reform that drives down carbon pollution and protects the health and safety of American people and communities.
It will help us meet our climate goals. But why else do we need clean energy permitting reform?
1. Cut air pollution
The current climate provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act will reduce the number of Americans suffering from lung diseases and prevent up to 180,000 premature American deaths over the next decade by reducing air pollution. Without clean energy permitting reform, it will take years to implement these provisions and there will be many thousands more premature deaths, mostly in vulnerable communities near sources of pollution.
2. It’s the most promising opportunity in Congress to make progress on climate.
Clean energy permitting reform is emerging as the biggest opportunity to cut carbon pollution in this Congress. There are serious bipartisan efforts in both the Senate and the House happening on this topic. We should expect to see bills coming out in Congress this year. Congress needs to hear from all of us that it’s important to tackle permitting reform in the right way so that we pass legislation that reduces pollution and makes people’s lives better.
3. Transition to clean energy faster
Currently, it takes an average of 4.5 years for federal agencies to complete environmental impact statements for major energy projects. We should speed up these timelines without approving or rubber-stamping harmful projects.
It’s important to note that clean energy permitting reform will benefit clean energy projects more than fossil fuel projects. Reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration find that in each of the past three years, 84% of new energy capacity was clean energy. More than 95% of new energy projects currently awaiting permits are solar and wind and battery storage, and less than 5% are natural gas.
Policies we support
An improved permitting process should allow local communities to give real input on energy projects and choose good projects over bad ones. Good projects should be approved faster, and harmful projects should be rejected faster. While it is impossible to build more clean energy projects without impact, new projects should safeguard the lives and health of people living near them.
CCL advocates for good permitting reform that maximizes benefits for the climate and protects health and safety in American communities. To achieve those goals, we are interested in policies that:
- Speed up the approval of clean energy projects that are waiting to be built
- Allow communities to make their voices heard on the environmental and other impacts of proposed energy projects.
Want to see clean energy permitting reform policies implemented in the U.S.? Us too. Join up and let’s make it happen.
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