Environmentalism could stop the clean-energy transition

Two miles remain to be built of the 102-mile CardinalHickory Creek high-voltage transmission line between Iowa and Wisconsin, expected to connect more than 160 renewable-energy facilities, producing nearly 25 gigawatts of green power, to the Midwestern grid. And yet this crucial project for the climate might not get finished — because of U.S. environmental laws.

At issue is the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, a habitat for bald eagles and other migratory birds, through which the power line would run. On March 21, three environmental groups persuaded a federal judge to stop construction temporarily. They hope to stop it for good.

This episode is just one conflict pitting the environment against the environment. Solar plants and wind farms, transmission lines and carbon-capture projects face opposition from conservationists asking courts to stop new infrastructure from encroaching on wetlands, forests and other ecosystems.

Such trade-offs are not new. Unfortunately, neither is the system by which this country evaluates the costs and benefits of protecting the eagles against those of stringing up new power lines. Established by laws such as the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the rules generally lean against developers, written in an era before those developers included promoters of the green power needed to stave off climate change.

Opposition is largely local, from groups vested in preserving local ecosystems. Others exploit the environmental review process to preserve views, prevent bothersome construction or stop the character of their areas from changing. Their main tool is NEPA, which allows pretty much anybody to challenge in court a federal agency’sdecision to greenlight projects on a virtually limitless set of environmental grounds.

Researchers at Stanford University studied 171 large energy infrastructure projects and found nearly two-thirds of solar energy projects were litigated, as were 31% of transmission lines and 38% of wind energy projects.

The stakes are high. An analysis by researchers at MIT and research firm the Rhodium Group found that the clean-power expansion is way behind schedule to attain the 50% to 52% reduction in emissions by 2030 that the United States pledged under the Paris agreement. Princeton University researchers reckon that the nation’s ambitious green energy policies will fall well short of their goals if transmission wire construction isn’t ramped up considerably.

To be sure, big energy projects require public scrutiny. Sometimes, undisturbed habitats should remain that way. But the permitting process does not weigh reasonably the costs and benefits of building essential infrastructure. It needs streamlining.

While lawmakers are at it, Congress should also preempt state and local rules that make it even harder to build projects of high national priority. Green power transmission lines certainly qualify.