1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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2 2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (2024)
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3 SENATE
3 RESOLUTION 30 By: Paxton
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6 AS INTRODUCED
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7 A Resolution urging federal action to reform United
7 States processes relating to permitting and
8 environmental review in order to expedite the
8 deployment of modern energy infrastructure; and
9 directing distribution.
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11 WHEREAS, Oklahoma recognizes that abundant, resilient, and
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12 diversified domestic energy production in the United States enhances
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13 American national security, economic competitiveness, and energy
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14 independence; and
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15 WHEREAS, environmental stewardship that keeps our air and water
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16 clean, protects public health, ensures biodiversity and species
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17 protection, and conserves public lands is a worthy goal that is
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18 important to achieve; and
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19 WHEREAS, the excessively complex federal permitting and
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20 environmental review processes that have built up around our
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21 nation’s environmental laws – including the National Environmental
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22 Policy Act of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the National
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23 Historic Preservation Act, the Clean Water Act, and dozens of other
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24 federal requirements – have grown to be so cumbersome that they
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Req. No. 3655 Page 1
 1 often unnecessarily slow or prevent the construction of essential
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2 new energy infrastructure and therefore discourage domestic energy
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3 production without advancing the goals of these laws; and
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4 WHEREAS, energy is produced in the United States at a much
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5 higher environmental standard than is typically the case in the
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6 countries from which energy is imported, so prevention of domestic
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7 energy production undermines environmental stewardship; and
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8 WHEREAS, delays caused by permitting inefficiencies inhibit the
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9 building of all of the essential components of a low-cost, reliable,
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10 and modern energy infrastructure that is needed to support economic
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11 competitiveness and domestic manufacturing, to enhance reliability
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12 and prevent blackouts, to lower costs for consumers and businesses,
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13 and to achieve the goals of our nation’s environmental laws; and
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14 WHEREAS, after nearly two decades of flat electricity demand,
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15 demand for electricity in the United States is projected to
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16 dramatically increase in the coming decades, requiring major
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17 increases in domestic energy production and a more than doubling of
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18 domestic electricity transmission grid capacity; and
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19 WHEREAS, regulatory barriers today mean that more than two
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20 thousand gigawatts of energy production and storage – more than the
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21 entire current American electricity capacity combined – are stuck in
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22 electricity interconnection queues and the average amount of time to
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23 interconnect new energy resources has nearly doubled from about two
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24 years to nearly four years; and
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 1 WHEREAS, the average time it takes to process an environmental
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2 impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1973
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3 for major infrastructure projects has risen to an excessive length
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4 of four-and-a-half years; and
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5 WHEREAS, the United States is highly reliant on China and other
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6 countries that do not share our interests to mine and process
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7 critical minerals, with demand for some of these minerals
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8 potentially growing by more than forty times by 2040; and
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9 WHEREAS, other developed nations that share our goals to protect
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10 the environment while producing abundant energy resources, such as
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11 Canada and Australia, have shown that they can permit new mines
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12 within two to three years instead of nearly ten years, as is often
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13 the case in the United States; and
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14 WHEREAS, both linear infrastructure – such as pipelines and
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15 transmission lines – as well as energy generation infrastructure
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16 each face extraordinary and indefensible delays due to
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17 overlitigation, inappropriate blocking of nationally important
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18 projects by unrepresentative and often radical groups that hold
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19 those projects hostage, and excessive use of our court system to
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20 hamstring worthy projects; and
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21 WHEREAS, major delays in projects caused by inefficient
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22 permitting or overlitigation can dramatically increase costs and
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23 make projects less viable, costing consumers, businesses, and
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24 taxpayers money and making our energy system less reliable; and
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 1 WHEREAS, unnecessary permitting and regulatory delays also
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2 increase American dependence on energy produced by foreign dictators
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3 and authoritarian regimes; and
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4 WHEREAS, unnecessary permitting delays limit investments made in
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5 modernizing our nation’s infrastructure that would result in a more
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6 efficient energy system with reduced emissions and environmental
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7 impact; and
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8 WHEREAS, overlapping federal permitting requirements lack the
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9 flexibility to allow for efforts that reflect the spirit and intent
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10 of traditional environmental laws by protecting human health and the
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11 environment instead of procedural compliance with outdated
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12 regulations; and
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13 WHEREAS, failure to reform federal permitting laws is already
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14 resulting in fewer jobs, reduced security, and higher prices for
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15 Americans without providing additional benefits for the environment;
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16 and
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17 WHEREAS, failing to reform these laws in the coming months will
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18 result in even greater limitations on our energy infrastructure,
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19 costing even more American jobs while raising costs for consumers
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20 and businesses and leaving the United States vulnerable to
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21 unreliability, blackouts, and the resulting severe harm to the
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22 American people.
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23 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 2ND SESSION
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24 OF THE 59TH OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:
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 1 THAT the Oklahoma State Senate urges federal legislators to work
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2 in good faith to enact legislation that reforms federal permitting
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3 and environmental review processes to promote economic and
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4 environmental stewardship by expediting the deployment of modern
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5 energy infrastructure.
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6 THAT these reforms should enable faster and lower-cost
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7 construction of energy infrastructure of all kinds, without
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8 prejudice, including by considering steps to: 1) limit excessive
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9 use of judicial processes to slow projects inappropriately; 2)
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10 prevent inappropriate usage of the Clean Water Act and other laws to
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11 hamstring the lawful building of linear energy infrastructure, such
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12 as pipelines and transmission lines; 3) enact reforms to plan,
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13 permit, and pay for the necessary build-out of electricity
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14 transmission infrastructure to support a more reliable energy grid
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15 that lowers costs for consumers and businesses; and 4) enable the
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16 domestic build-out of the full array of modern energy technologies,
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17 including nuclear, emissions management, hydrogen, critical mineral
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18 mining and processing, and all other needs for a modern energy
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19 system. These legislative reforms should also strive to ensure
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20 accountability for federal agencies conducting federal permitting
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21 and environmental review processes, including better data, more
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22 aggressive timelines, and permitting shot clocks. These legislative
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23 reforms must be accompanied by a redoubling of efforts to streamline
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 1 federal regulations to support the efficient building of new energy
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2 infrastructure.
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3 THAT failure to act to update our federal permitting system to
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4 support building new energy infrastructure will further harm
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5 consumers, workers, and businesses, while making the United States
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6 less competitive and more vulnerable to both foreign adversaries and
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7 domestic outages. Congress must act with urgency in the coming
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8 months to fix our broken permitting system.
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9 THAT copies of this resolution be distributed to the President
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10 Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
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11 United States House of Representatives, and to the members of
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12 Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation.
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14 59-2-3655 CF 3/12/2024 4:46:26 PM
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