Republicans and Democrats on the Senate environment committee said on Wednesday that U.S. infrastructure project developers need assurances that fully approved projects will not be cancelled or stalled due to shifting political priorities, Reuters reported.
The statements from Republican senators were an apparent criticism of President Donald Trump’s efforts to stymie renewable energy development, particularly his administration’s halt on offshore wind projects that are fully permitted.
The lawmakers spoke at a hearing about federal environmental review and permitting processes, which Congress has pledged to reform.
“I feel strongly that no project should have to worry that it will be halted at the whim of an administration,” Senator John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, said at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. “We saw it in 2021 with Keystone XL Pipeline and we see it today with wind projects across the country.”
Another Republican, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, also drew parallels between the Biden administration’s Keystone oil pipeline cancellation and Trump’s efforts to slow renewable energy.
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