U.S. House Lawmakers Approval Important Energy Bill

On March 30, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, by a vote of 225-204. Four Democrats joined all but one Republican lawmakers in supporting the legislation. The bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), would boost U.S. competitiveness by expanding fossil fuel production and exports and domestic mining. If enacted into law, the legislation also would accelerate the approval process for energy and other infrastructure projects.

The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) supported passage of the legislation because the U.S. permitting system is fundamentally broken and it is delaying the investments the country desperately needs. It should never take longer to get a permit than it does to build a project, which is what often happens now.

As Connecting the Dots reported last week, MSCI signed onto letters with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) and the National Association of Manufacturers supporting passage of the legislation. The USCC also has launched a page where Americans can learn more about the importance of this legislation. View it here.

Unfortunately, at this point, the U.S. Senate is unlikely to consider this bill and, even if senators approved it, President Joe Biden has said he would veto the legislation if it reaches his desk since, according to his analysis, it “would pad oil and gas company profits.”

Two House Democrats are planning to assemble their own version of permitting reform in response to the GOP package, however. Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.) are expected to introduce the Clean Electricity Transmission Acceleration Act of 2023 in the next few weeks. That permitting measure reportedly will only deal with permitting for clean energy projects.