WASHINGTON, D.C.— Christopher Guith, acting president of the U.S. Chamber’s Global Energy Institute, issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Orders on energy infrastructure signed today.
“Today’s actions represent meaningful progress to address some of the most pressing issues that commonly result in permitting delays, and we applaud the Trump Administration for tackling this problem. These actions will help increase predictability and transparency which are both necessary to drive investment in energy infrastructure.
The critical need for energy infrastructure has been a top priority of the Chamber for many years. As our president and CEO Tom Donohue recently said in Congressional testimony, “it shouldn’t take longer to approve a project than to build it,” yet that is exactly what is happening around the country—and some projects aren’t ever built because of permitting delays.
We support reasonable regulations that are fairly enforced, but over time, activists have taken advantage of the federal and state regulatory process with the intent of keeping energy resources “in the ground.” As a result, consumers, businesses and American workers pay the price—sometimes quite literally in the form of higher prices.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration on this critical issue, and we urge Congress to also devout time and attention to improving our nation’s energy infrastructure.”
Last year, the Global Energy Institute’s analysis, Infrastructure Lost: Why America Cannot Afford To ‘Keep It In the Ground’ found that that the anti-energy “Keep it in the Ground” (KIITG) movement has prevented at least $91.9 billion in domestic economic activity and eliminated nearly 730,000 job opportunities. In addition, federal, state, and local governments have missed out on more than $20 billion in tax revenue.
