Moving to Saner US Energy Policy

House Republicans are striking back against the disastrous energy policies of President Biden and the Democratic Party by moving to pass the Lower Energy Costs Act this week.

The bill aims to unleash American prosperity driven by its vast natural resources, and to break the fever of energy inflation (now at “only” 5.2%) driven by Biden’s spending and by war on US energy production.

Naturally, the White House threatens a veto, calling it a “license to pollute.” No, Joe: It’s the antidote to the economic poison you’ve been pumping into the country since Day One.

We understand your pique, however. The bill’s marquee provision — a modification of the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act — would hobble the left hugely in that war.

NEPA created a regulatory apparatus that allows for massive bureaucratic delay endless litigation against any energy project receiving any federal monies or requiring any federal approval. The average NEPA project review takes 4.5 years and costs $4.2 million.

That process helped slow the Keystone XL pipeline for over a decade until Biden came into office and killed it entirely — which, by the administration’s own admission, cost the nation up to 60,000 jobs and $9.6 billion in positive economic impact.

The new bill would mandate sensible time limits to NEPA review (no more than two years) and add a filing deadline for lawsuits. It’s also full of other good ideas, like rules restricting states’ authority to block projects that cross their borders.

Most importantly, it represents a first step back to energy sanity against green demands for artificial scarcity that inflicts major pain on averge Americans.