The tenor of a big Senate permitting hearing Wednesday was upbeat even as key Democrats continue to stay away from the negotiating table because of the administration’s actions against renewable energy projects.
Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who is part of the negotiation pause, said he was trying to demonstrate some “relative goodwill” on the issue.
Whitehouse and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the Energy and Natural Resources ranking member, have long said President Donald Trump’s animosity toward renewables could prevent a permitting accord. Then, the administration moved in December to halt construction on five offshore wind projects.
Federal judges have ruled against the administration in four of five cases, but Whitehouse says he wants to hear directly from Trump officials on the matter before formal talks can resume.
“This is not Democrat versus Republican,” he said during the hearing. “This is executive versus legislative — an age-old drama.”
Whitehouse called on industry representatives in the room to make clear to the administration that electricity demand was rising and renewables are part of the solution.
“None of this is good for business,” he said of actions against wind and solar projects. “This nonsense must stop.”
The hearing featured representatives from business and labor, renewable energy and fossil fuels.
“I don’t think you have a problem in this room,” Whitehouse said. “I think you have a problem at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.”
Republicans working on permitting say they are doing so with the White House’s blessing. But that doesn’t mean Trump himself will curb his intense hatred of wind in particular.
Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) said GOP lawmakers can talk to the White House, “but that doesn’t mean it’s going to fix anything. But the important thing is we’re continuing to do our work and prepare language.”
Lee has spoken out against sprawling legislative packages but sees the permitting effort as focused. He also said he was “guardedly optimistic. People on both sides of the aisle still believe as we long have that permitting reform is necessary.”
‘Crocodile tears’
During the EPW hearing, Whitehouse took pains to praise Capito and other Republicans for their work on the issue. At one point, Capito handed him the gavel.
But tempers flared somewhat when Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) mentioned a memo from the group Evergreen Action that outlined how the Trump administration’s tactics against renewable energy could be used by a future administration to stall fossil fuel projects.
Republicans have long accused Democrats of targeting fossil fuels. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) mentioned the Keystone XL oil pipeline as an example.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) accused Democrats of shedding “crocodile tears.” “What goes around comes around,” he said.
Dusty Meyer, an executive with the American Petroleum Institute, said permitting reform is “our industry’s top legislative priority.”
Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said, “Now is the moment,” but she added that any piece of legislation would need to have assurances the administration would be fair to solar.
And Brent Booker, general president for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, underscored that point: “What good is permitting reform if any project no matter how far along can be shut down with the stroke of a pen?”
About what’s ahead, Capito said of the hearing, “I think it shows that we did it together, and there’s unifying themes there on permitting.”
She added, “We got to have the executive, and they are definitely fully engaged.”
