Research
Empirical data undercuts the dominant narrative: fewer than 5% of wind and solar projects required the most burdensome federal permits between 2010–2021, and median permitting duration nearly halved over the same period—suggesting transmission queues, supply chains, and local opposition are larger bottlenecks than environmental review. The more consequential threat to renewable deployment may now be legislative rather than regulatory, as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act compressed tax credit deadlines from 2032 to end of 2027, creating a financial cliff that bears no relationship to permitting speed. The deepest tension in the briefing is not procedural but political: proposed permitting reforms are simultaneously demanded by clean energy developers, opposed by 650+ environmental groups as a fossil fuel Trojan horse, and challenged by Global South scholars who argue that fast-tracking without community consent produces legally reversible projects—as Argentina's $1.3B Cauchari annulment demonstrated.
Failure to act on permitting reform puts an estimated 100 GW of clean energy projects at risk of significant delay.
On April 21, 2026, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of several permitting policies for wind and solar energy ...
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process begins when a federal agency develops a proposal to take a major federal action.
Approximately 4 percent of wind projects received a Habitat Conservation Plan between 2010 and 2021, compared to less than 1 percent of solar ...
650+ Groups have signed a letter to Democratic leadership opposing any dirty deal that fast tracks dangerous fossil fuel projects.
Rollins announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized a rule modernizing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ...
For an energy project, the average review timeline today is 4.5 years. For transmission projects, the average is. 6.5 years—and often can take over 10 years.
Citizen science offers substantial potential to enhance biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts within environmental review.
On Friday, July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) into law, which includes many provisions relevant to the energy sector.
29 This section considers the factual clash between renewable energy and endangered species, concluding that the effect of renewable energy on ...
But many environmental groups oppose permitting reforms that could also benefit the fossil fuel industry, or weaken the National Environmental ...
11 solar projects and one onshore wind project now face potential delays or cancellation, according to an analysis of federal data by Atlas Public Policy.
The FAST Act is the first time that Congress has attempted to coordinate NEPA review across federal agencies and industry sectors.
Transmission lines pose a well-documented threat to wildlife, particularly birds. Large species like eagles and migratory birds are susceptible ...
Thirteen cases have been brought against companies in relation to specific projects, challenging their environmental impact assessments and permits, 12These ...
In 2024, the total number of single-family permits issued nationwide reached 981,911. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this was an increase of 6.7% over the ...
This training page provides a summary of what's in the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 (S.4753) and more about CCL's position on the bill.
Overall, what we found is that NEPA is a success — it has made agencies take a hard look at the potential environmental consequences of their actions, and it ...
Failure to act on permitting reform puts an estimated 100 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy projects at risk of significant delay, including over 40 GW of projects ...
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the process of examining the anticipated environmental effects of a proposed project.
One of the specific issues to emerge in the last few years in the United States is the impact of electric power transmission lines on birds in flight. Therefore ...
Compared with the reported average of 54 months, our sample shows that solar and wind projects require about 27 and 45 months, respectively. In ...
NEPA's critics allege that the review process delays federal decision making, unduly impedes development, and results in excessive litigation. These claims, ...
State and local permitting challenges could impede the ability of large-scale solar (LSS) to meet growing electricity demand in the United ...
Preempting local zoning codes fuels opposition to renewable energy in New York. By Frederic M. Mauhs. February 2, 2022.
If a project proposes the use of any federally owned or protected land, a permit is required from the relevant land administering agency.
This set of facts illustrate the state of permitting reform and areas where attention should be focused to accelerate building out clean ...
Updating our nation's energy infrastructure is vital for the U.S. to ensure affordable, reliable energy while reducing emissions, ...
ELAW provides this brief overview of successful legal strategies used to defeat new and refurbished coal infrastructure, as well as a database of relevant ...
Routing, permitting and constructing linear projects is challenging due to regulatory requirements and stakeholder scrutiny.From conducting comprehensive ...
The American Bird Conservancy has repeatedly obstructed wind energy projects and become a go-to source for renewable energy opponents.
The result is a growing tension between the environmental benefits of solar energy and local concerns about aesthetics, property values, and land use.
If implemented correctly, permitting reform can bring common sense back to a system that has drifted too far from its original purpose.
On April 25, 2024, the DOE announced a final transmission permitting reform rule that will streamline the transmission authorization process to ...
The company appears to be opposing many forms of climate-motivated regulation, particularly renewable fuel standards, whilst actively pushing a US energy policy ...
Jenkins found that if permitting isn't accelerated, we could miss out on up to 80% of greenhouse gas reduction that could have been achieved ...
This primer provides an overview of the Federal Energy Regulato- ry Commission's (FERC's) role in overseeing the reliable operation.
Permitting reform has the potential to offer significant reductions in US greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to the expected economic benefits.
They report that utility-scale solar projects had a litigation rate of 64 percent, the highest rate of litigation across the 38 energy ... green ...
It compares the permitting process and its effectiveness in 4 EU countries (Germany ... Germany, Denmark, and Scotland have streamline processes, ...
The IRA significantly enhanced both the ITC and PTC on a temporary basis, with Dec. 31, 2024, being the operative BOC date. Projects meeting that deadline are ...
Renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, emit little to no greenhouse gases, are readily available and in most cases cheaper than coal, oil or gas.
Survey results show that local land use regulations are being updated to accommodate increasing renewable energy development. Climate change ...
What is a Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA)?. A CIA is a multi-step process that analyzes and estimates the total sum of the direct and indirect impacts.
Among the most important improvements needed to the transmission siting process are strong environmental review and a more proactive engagement ...
This Article critically examines the case for permitting reform, focusing on the two distinct sources of concern motivating it.
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