OPINION:
On his first day in office, President Biden made quick work of handing down an unprecedented number of executive orders to undo years of the Trump administration’s careful efforts to protect the American West. In its infancy, this administration exponentially increased red tape and limited U.S. energy, manufacturing and critical infrastructure projects to our nation’s detriment. This administration has continued to weaponize even the most mundane tools to stall progress in this country with no regard for the direct and broader consequences.
In an effort to cater to Green New Deal climate activists, this administration has created an unworkable permitting and environmental review process that has dealt a near-fatal blow to domestic energy production, especially out West. While American-based companies can spend decades navigating the bureaucratic process, this administration is readily striking deals with foreign adversaries to meet our energy needs, jeopardizing our national security and sending thousands of Americans to the unemployment lines. Moreover, the Biden administration has used its power to leverage environmental laws and regulations to pander to radical environmentalists, tying up infrastructure projects around the country. States should not have to sue the federal government after delaying projects for years while seeking approval, yet that has become the new norm under President Biden, and NEPA has become the most litigated environmental law in the name of climate change virtue signaling.
Delays due to extreme regulations unfortunately do not just pertain to energy projects. Communities throughout the country that need essential infrastructure improvements also face years-long environmental reviews before they can break ground on many projects. In the fall of 2021, after spending nearly $2 trillion in his first year in office, President Biden rolled out a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that dedicated less than 10% of its funds to supporting actual infrastructure, allocating the lion’s share to environmental pet projects. This unprecedented move would become the foundation of this administration’s infrastructure policies. It also laid the groundwork for climate change activists to stifle or shut down infrastructure projects essential to our energy independence and national security while rolling out unrealistic environmental mandates that threaten our electricity grid.
Desperate to appease his radical base, President Biden has weaponized the Bureau of Land Management, the Environmental Protection Agency and nearly every agency in between to lock up federal lands and restrict domestic energy production. A recent change to the definition of conservation now allows this administration to restrict energy production, grazing and tourism from occurring on the federal lands that make up nearly half of the state of Wyoming, and the Biden EPA’s finalized Clean Power Plan 2.0 has issued a slew of regulations designed to shutter gas and coal-fired power plants across the U.S. — despite the fact that they produce nearly 60% of the nation’s electricity.
Despite gas and coal-fired plants’ substantial contributions to America’s infrastructure, this administration has opted to roll out ridiculous electric vehicle mandates that erode consumer choice and are estimated to increase demand on our electricity grid by an alarming 30%. Thus, this administration has intentionally increased demand on a segment of our infrastructure it has spent much of the last three years dismantling. What could go wrong?
Instead of addressing roads and bridges across the country in need of repair or improving our oppressive permitting process, this administration has proven it is willing to sacrifice key portions of American infrastructure to cater to radical environmentalists. If this administration will not acknowledge the error of its ways and reverse its harmful policies, my colleagues and I will fight fire with fire to reassert the American people’s authority and block this administration from further harming American infrastructure. We should be unleashing American energy producers, allowing the American people to enjoy our beautiful landscapes, and encouraging landowners to be partners in species recovery instead of painting them as the enemy. Together, we can right the ship and ensure America can achieve its energy independence and bolster the economy instead of shackling it to appease out-of-touch climate lobbyists.
• Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, is the junior senator from Wyoming and the chairwoman of the Senate Western Caucus. She serves on the Senate Environment and Public Works, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees.
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