Permitting Pandemonium and Manchin Misinformation

Today's news says a vote to test the waters on whether Manchin's "permitting reform" bill attached to the continuing resolution to fund the federal government will be held tonight.  If it doesn't get enough support to pass, then some hard choices will have to be made.  Personally, I'm a fan of shutting down the federal government.  I doubt anyone will miss that bloated freedom forestaller which has intruded way, way, way too far into our lives lately.  Shutting down the windbag prevaricators for a couple months is probably good medicine for out-of-control, power hungry egos.

But what IS "permitting reform" and how, exactly, is it going to speed up infrastructure permitting?  A media that loves the idea says this:

The bill could provide a significant boost to transmission infrastructure, which is needed to ensure widespread renewable adoption. Where permitting a transmission line can now take a decade, the bill would limit federal environmental reviews to two years, put a statute of limitation of 150 days on legal challenges and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission more authority to permit transmission lines.

First of all, they fail to recognize the REAL reason permitting a transmission line can take a decade:  Opposition from affected communities and landowners.  Will this "permitting reform" bill melt opposition by, say, requiring that long-distance transmission be buried on existing road and rail rights of way, or underwater?  No, of course not.  It completely misses the obvious, easy solution.

Then it gives examples that demonstrate the uselessness of "permitting reform."

The U.S. has a checkered history of transmission development. It has had some success building new lines, particularly in the Midwest, where 16 of 17 projects planned over the last decade were permitted.

But the country has also encountered a series of high-profile failures. An attempt to build a transmission line carrying hydropower from Canada into New England was first rejected by New Hampshire and then nixed by voters in Maine, only for the state’s high court to open the door for the project again. It remains in limbo.

A $4.5 billion line bringing wind from the Oklahoma Panhandle to Tulsa was scrapped in 2018, eventually replaced by a slightly scaled-back version of the project.

Perhaps most infamous was an eight-year effort to build a 700-mile line connecting Oklahoma wind power to the East Coast via Tennessee. The project died in 2017 but not before its trials and tribulations were captured in the popular book “Superpower” by Texas Monthly reporter Russell Gold.

Even when projects do succeed, it can take years. The Anschutz Corp. began planning a 732-mile line aimed at bringing Wyoming wind to Southern California in 2008. It received its last permit in 2020 after obtaining approvals from the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation, along with state and county regulators in four states. The project is still waiting on a notice to proceed from BLM, which is expected to arrive next year.

The NECEC could not be "saved" by anything in this "permitting reform" bill.  It doesn't give the federal government authority to prevent or invalidate state elections on referendums.  And it can't solve the legal issues with the company's acquisition of right of way through state land, which has to be approved by the legislature. 

AEP's WindCatcher project in Oklahoma could not be "saved" with "permitting reform."  Lack of permits isn't what killed that project.  It was Texas regulators, who refused to accept costs for Texas ratepayers when cheaper options existed. 

And "permitting reform" couldn't have saved the "infamous" 700-mile line connecting Oklahoma to Tennessee.  It wasn't a permitting issue... it was a customer issue.  This merchant transmission project had NO CUSTOMERS to pay for it.

And maybe the part of this whole stupid sh*t show I like best is that Manchin's "permitting reform" actually tosses out and replaces one of the provisions of the "Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill" that passed last year.  Before the DOE can even complete a "National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor" study to determine if there are any "needs" for projects that could be permitted by FERC if they are denied by a state, Manchin tries to change the rules.  Now the FERC would pop up out of nowhere and ask the Secretary of Energy to determine the project is in the national interest.  That's it.  No studies.  No administrative process.  No public participation.  No requirements.  And if the Secretary does make a decision based on politics, then FERC gets to site and permit.  It doesn't even make sense!

And do you know why it doesn't even make sense?  Because it's written and pushed forward by entities who have NO IDEA how transmission works.  No idea how it is planned.  No idea how it is permitted.  No idea how it is paid for.  It's just a legislative give-away to the cabal that is REALLY running our country.

Greg Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said permitting reform is needed to fully realize the emission-cutting benefits of the climate spending law Congress passed earlier this year.

“Senator Manchin’s bill includes provisions that will help streamline the transmission approval process, improving our ability to meet our nation’s decarbonization goals by better connecting our key renewable resources to our largest population centers,” he said in a statement.

ACORE is just one of the many front groups run by this cabal of the rich, global elite.  Joe's nothing but a silly puppet.  Dance, Joe, Dance.  There's no fool like an old fool.