Common-Sense Permitting Reform is Key to American Energy Leadership

By Former Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX)

The United States leads the world in energy production, including exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), a crucial part of our national energy dominance agenda. America is home to seven LNG export terminals, two of which are in my home state of Texas.

However, these projects have consistently faced permit-related roadblocks and ceaseless litigation from climate activists, delaying critical energy development. For example, the Texas LNG Project near Brownsville was canceled just last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This project’s construction was estimated to cost $4 billion and employ over 1,200 workers and could have delivered over a hundred full-time jobs upon its completion. The court eventually walked back this misguided ruling, yet it was pointlessly delayed and hindered America’s energy industry in the process.

Overzealous government bureaucrats and activist judges have overstepped their authority by consistently misinterpreting laws like the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). This ever-more-stringent government overreach, under the pretense of environmental justice, has stifled some of America’s most productive industries.

Comprehensive permitting reform is the necessary solution if we want to break free from these mandates and empower the private sector to spur American production and innovation. Easing permitting requirements can unleash American energy and let job creators more efficiently execute on infrastructure projects of all types.

Recent efforts to simplify and accelerate project approvals represent an important step toward this goal. By setting clear, efficient timelines and reducing red tape, these reforms help ensure that energy developers can move projects forward without being caught in endless bureaucratic limbo. They also provide accountability when agencies fail to act, ensuring predictability and fairness in the process.

Nowhere is this more critical than in Texas. Our state has attracted nearly $50 billion in LNG investment, with exports accounting for roughly one-third of the national total. Texas is a crucial generator of American energy. Continued permitting reform will help secure that leadership for decades to come by preventing further delays and ensuring that energy infrastructure projects in Texas and across the country can move forward efficiently to meet America’s energy needs.

That is why it is vital for the Texas Congressional delegation to lead the charge for bipartisan permitting reform. Texas is the beating heart of America’s energy sector, and its continued success is directly tied to the state’s ability to build and expand critical energy infrastructure without needless red tape. Supporting bipartisan reform is about protecting Texas jobs and strengthening America’s energy security.  Texas lawmakers have a responsibility to push forward reforms that will safeguard the state’s role as the backbone of U.S. energy independence.

Leaders in oil, gas, exports, and other industries can begin to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the government is finally on their side. However, there is still work to be done, as judicial delays from frivolous NEPA suits continue to hold back energy infrastructure projects.

Activists continue to cite NEPA in court filings to delay a much-needed expansion of energy, which in turn limits America’s energy dominance and slows down the fight to lower energy costs for ordinary Americans. Permitting reform is a bipartisan, common-sense and necessary solution to a set of pesky and unnecessary problems. Reducing pointless bureaucracy and constant back-and-forth litigation will benefit all Americans, as the Bipartisan Policy Center found that 61% of voters support permitting reform on a bipartisan basis. Updating aspects of federal permitting with NEPA itself would expedite all energy infrastructure and allow America to build upon its energy independence and dominance.

While recent reforms – such as those advanced through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) – have laid a foundation for progress, much more remains to be done. Congress must build upon these efforts with comprehensive, long-term solutions that streamline federal reviews, modernize NEPA, and eliminate unnecessary litigation delays. This will be especially helpful for Texas, the backbone of America’s energy sector, by empowering the industry’s leaders to continue exporting resources like liquefied natural gas and uplifting local communities that rely on good-paying energy jobs.

The reforms we’ve seen so far are an encouraging start—but they must be expanded and strengthened. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Congressional Republicans, as well as Texas lawmakers, our nation’s producers and private sector leaders are being empowered to create jobs, strengthen our country’s energy dominance, and usher in America’s Golden Age, which comprehensive permitting reform must continue to do.

Mike Conaway formerly represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.