Progressives are threatening Biden’s climate success
Progressives are about to blow up America’s best chance yet to slow climate change.
Hardcore climate activists are mobilizing against Sen. Joe Manchin’s effort to reform the government permitting process for energy projects. Other activists oppose expanded mining for critical minerals and clean energy factories.
By failing to compromise, leftist environmentalists are threatening to create the kind of political gridlock fossil-fuel conservatives have used to stop clean energy development. Stopping transmission lines, pipelines, mining and manufacturing will not only hurt the climate but also slow the economy and damage national security.
Seventy-six House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemning Manchin’s proposal, which would speed permitting not only for clean energy projects but also fossil fuel pipelines. Leading Democrats promised Manchin to include the measures in a must-pass budget bill due at the end of the month in return for his support of a landmark climate law.
Permitting reform in the face of climate change makes common sense.
Manchin wants the government to complete environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act within two years. Today, there is no limit and permitting takes 4.5 years on average. The bill would set a deadline for when groups can file
lawsuits to stop a project.
The law would also require the president to identify and fast-track 25 high-priority energy projects, including proposals to improve fossil fuel facilities. But upgrading our fossil fuel systems, particularly natural gas pipelines, is a step too far for progressives.
“The inclusion of these provisions in a continuing resolution, or any other must-pass legislation, would silence the voices of frontline and environmental justice communities by insulating them from scrutiny,” the progressive Democrats wrote in a letter to Pelosi.
Progressive Democrats are responding to pressure from dozens of environmental groups, who still hold a grudge against Manchin for blowing up their New Green Deal dreams. Stopping his bill would be sweet revenge but also leave the nation and the world without the energy it needs.
I recognize the scientifically proven need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide and methane. But I also recognize political and economic reality. We need natural gas to back up the electric grid and make thousands of products that make modern life possible.
We also need to keep energy affordable for transportation or to manage our home’s temperatures. The current energy crisis in Europe proves the danger of moving too quickly and trusting unreliable partners without redundant supplies.
With high energy prices and a cold winter coming, Europeans are demanding that coalfired power plants reopen, boosting carbon dioxide emissions. In the United Kingdom, the new prime minister lifted the ban on natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing to bolster the energy supply.
Neither should we forget the Yellow Vest protests in France against higher fuel prices. If people must choose between energy and food, the political backlash will override years of awareness-raising about climate change.
Opposition to pipelines, transmission lines and mines also demonstrates a know-it-all arrogance and technological ignorance.
The places best suited for solar and wind facilities are far from the cities that need power. The wind and sun are also intermittent, which means we must store their energy, either in batteries or through chemical conversions, such as making hydrogen gas or liquid ammonia. These have to be processed and transported somehow.
New technologies, such as renewable natural gas from landfills, or certified green natural gas that is responsibly produced, will also require pipelines. But every time a company tries to build something new, someone opposes the permits and files a lawsuit in the name of saving the planet.
For example, environmental groups have tied up 180 hydropower projects during permitting or with litigation, according to the Department of Energy.
Responsible environmentalists celebrated the Inflation Reduction Act as the biggest and best climate change law in
U.S. history. But some groups will fight everything it promotes because they will oppose a lithium mine in their state, a battery factory in their city, a wind project off their coast, or a pipeline to export energy.
As I’ve written previously, relying on dictators or weak foreign governments for our energy needs is a recipe for geopolitical blackmail. Europeans are experiencing it acutely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Americans are paying for the knock-on price hikes for gasoline and natural gas.
Today, we rely on China for most of our solar panels. We depend on Chile for lithium and Congo for copper. We can and must produce clean energy technology with our resources within our borders.
Environmental arguments deserve a hearing, but companies deserve a timely resolution. The Manchin permitting bill deserves passage.