Alan Armstrong on permitting reform
From Why America can’t build the natural gas pipelines it needs, with Senator Alan Armstrong · · ImproveThePlanet
“It's actually not for the most part it's not the federal agencies that are the problem. It's the litigation that the federal agencies face from the NOS's and from anybody else that wants to try to make money in the business of stopping infrastructure. That's really the litigation is really where the problem is.”
On , Alan Armstrong, Executive Chairman of the Board at Williams Companies Inc, spoke about permitting reform during Why America can’t build the natural gas pipelines it needs, with Senator Alan Armstrong on ImproveThePlanet.
About Alan Armstrong
Alan Armstrong resigned as executive chairman of Williams Companies after Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt appointed him to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Markwayne Mullin, who left to become Secretary of Homeland Security. Armstrong will serve until January 2027 and, under state law, cannot run for a full term. He has described his appointment as a unique opportunity to focus on long-term policy issues without the pressures of reelection. Since taking office, Armstrong has made permitting reform for energy infrastructure his primary legislative priority. He has said that the United States has become "the hardest place I can imagine to be able to build critical infrastructure" and that the country "cannot get out of our own way" on such projects. He has argued that permitting delays separate abundant domestic energy supplies from consumers, driving up costs, and that the problem is driven less by federal agencies than by litigation from environmental groups and state-level abuse of Clean Water Act Section 401 water quality certifications. Armstrong has opposed removing the federal gas tax as a short-term fix, calling it "like putting a glove on to fix a leaky pin," and has instead advocated for streamlining the permitting process to allow construction of pipelines such as the proposed Western Gateway and the long-stalled Constitution pipeline in New York. He has said he supports "all of the above" energy sources but does not support subsidies, and that permitting reform should not make decisions about fuel choices.