https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/after-46-years-of-failed-attempts
By ALEX EPSTEIN
Excerpt:
Americans hear a lot about the fuel crisis, the electricity crisis, the housing crisis, and the munitions crisis.
But we don’t hear about the deeper, underlying crisis: the building crisis.
Despite the fact that technology has made it easier than ever to build great things quickly and cheaply, America has never been so slow and expensive at building. And that makes everything less affordable.
- We pay much more for gasoline and diesel than we should because it’s too hard to build a refinery in this country.1
- We pay much more for electricity than we should because it’s too hard to build power plants, fuel pipelines, and power lines in this country.2
- We pay much more for housing than we should because it’s too hard to build housing and apartment complexes in this country.3
- We’re running out of munitions because it’s too hard to build and run a factory in this country.4
The cause is an endless permitting process
Why is America so bad at building?
The skill of building hasn’t somehow gotten harder; in fact, technology has made it easier than ever to build great things quickly and affordably.
The problem is the government has made it far harder than ever to build things—above all through an endless permitting process for big, important projects.
Permitting delays make it much more expensive to build energy infrastructure, housing developments, and factories—with all the extra costs passed onto consumers.5
According to McKinsey, there is up to $1.5 trillion in American infrastructure awaiting federal approval, including power plants, pipelines, and factories that could be lowering prices.6
The solution is freedom-to-build legislation
The good news is that now most members of both parties recognize that endless permitting delays are a real problem—and that the solution is “permitting reform”: the freedom to build.
The freedom to build (quickly and safely) is what allowed Americans nearly 100 years ago, with far worse technology, to build the Empire State Building in just over a year—whereas if such a building took 5 years to build today that would be considered a miracle of speed.7
Endless permitting requirements in America’s major industrial and environmental laws have taken away the freedom to build.
We need to dramatically but responsibly reform permitting, so that any permitting process quickly and effectively confirms that a project is not a threat to its neighbors, their environmental quality, or their property.
And permitting reforms need to be made by Congress so that they are part of the law. This way, reasonable permitting requirements endure from administration to administration, instead of permitting selectively increasing and decreasing with every new President.
We finally, finally have a bipartisan deal with White House support: BAAJA
For decades, those who recognized America’s permitting crisis have worked to pass comprehensive, Congressional permitting reform.
In fact, as far back as 1980 the House and Senate were working on permitting reform that shortened timelines, reduced litigation, and ensured permitting certainty.8
Time after time, comprehensive reform has failed, because for one reason or another a bill could not get both bipartisan Congressional support and White House support.
