are needed and fast. We are again facing many of the same challenges posed a generation ago: chaotic international energy markets, crackling tension around the world and stubborn inflation right here at home.
First, let’s examine the status quo. The delays to get infrastructure projects permitted are inconsistent and extensive. Getting an infrastructure project through a National Environmental Policy Act review just one hurdle among many that must be cleared now takes an. These routine delays, coupled with a host of other permits needed for a project, can discourage financial investments and subject sorely needed projects to sometimes frivolous litigation that can lead to their cancellation.
Consider that, through the Biden administration’s first 19 months in office, the U.S. Interior Department leased fewer acres for drilling on federal lands and waters than any other administration in its first 19 months since the end of World War II, when the U.S. economy was a tiny fraction of what it is today.