Input Stories

The energy executive appointed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to temporarily fill Markwayne Mullin’s Senate seat has big plans for permitting reform (POLITICO’s E&E News, subscription).

What’s going on: “Before becoming the newest Republican senator, [Alan S.] Armstrong served as executive chair of natural gas pipeline operator Williams Cos. and previously as its CEO.”

• Sen. Armstrong, who will hold the seat until November elections, was appointed with “permitting in mind,” according to Gov. Stitt.
• “The truth is, it’s gotten very, very hard to build large-scale infrastructure, and it is so critical to our country’s competitiveness in the long term,” Sen. Armstrong said this week.
• “I really want to make sure that we really have meaningful permitting reform,” he continued. “That is going to be a primary focus for me.”

Important timing: The NAM continues to press policymakers to pass permitting reform this year, cheering legislators’ decision to restart talks earlier this month.

• To underscore the urgency of these reforms, the NAM recently published a new report (coproduced by the Foundation for American Innovation) on the financial impact of America’s broken permitting system.

By the numbers: The annual cost of permitting delays to manufacturers in the U.S. is more than $7.9 billion, according to the report.

• Meanwhile, the average environmental impact statement completion time for manufacturing undertakings is 4.1 years—nearly double the national average.

The NAM says: “Manufacturers congratulate Sen. Armstrong—a seasoned energy executive and champion for America’s energy dominance—on his appointment to the United States Senate,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM looks forward to working with him to advance our nation’s energy leadership, deliver comprehensive permitting reform and empower manufacturers to put more shovels in the ground and more people to work.”