Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON D.C.: The White House, this week, called upon the US Congress to pass legislation that will help speed the approval of clean energy and fossil fuel projects.

The renewed efforts come after President Joe Biden met with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to avoid a historic default on US debt.

Republicans have made permitting reform a priority and Biden, who last year supported a bill from Senator Joe Manchin, said that he was open to discussing the issue as part of the talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

White House climate adviser John Podesta said Republicans were using the threat of a historic default to coerce Democrats into negotiating.

At a forum hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, Podesta said, “That is bad for the economy, bad for the American people.”

Some Democrats and environmental groups oppose the reform measures that apply to oil and gas projects.

“Right now, the permitting process for clean energy infrastructure, including transmission, is plagued by delays and bottlenecks. These delays are pervasive at every level of government, federal, state and local. We got so good at stopping projects that we forgot how to build things in America,” Podesta said.

The White House is backing a bill by Democrat Manchin, who represents West Virginia, a major coal producer.

On a call to reporters, Manchin said that issuing permits could be tackled as a standalone bill or be attached to legislation on the debt ceiling, stressing he just wanted a “good bill that solves the problems and lets America be competitive.”