Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said at the first American Chemistry Council (ACC) summit he believes there is bipartisan interest in passing permitting reform.
ACC President and CEO Chris Jahn led the discussion with Sen. Ricketts, discussing the dire need for permitting reform.
Ricketts said “I do believe” there is bipartisan interest in passing permitting reform.
He noted a conversation with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who complained that the Trump administration has halted wind projects off of the coast of Rhode Island. Ricketts said that many on the other side of the aisle have had to contend with the Keystone XL pipeline’s loss of permits for politicized reason. He argued that Republicans and Democrats should agree that it should be easier to get permits to build energy infrastructure in America.
Legislation to update the federal permitting for laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act. However, lawmakers still have to hash out the the scale of permitting reform. Reports have stated that Democrats are indeed open to permitting reform, but their allies in the environmental lobby remain wary of giving away too much to pass a bipartisan deal.
Ricketts said there is a place for regulation; however, there has often been too much “mismanagement of regulation.” He compared it to being a “wet blanket” on the economy.
American Chemistry Council Chris Jahn provides opening remarks before his panel with Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) (Picture courtesy American Chemistry Council)
He emphasized that America has the most transparent and capitalized markets due to good regulations.
The Nebraska conservative emphasized that many corporations are asking for “certainty” and added that the Big Beautiful Bill made the research and development tax credit permanent, which has served as a “big boon” for the economy.
Ricketts joked how ridiculous Biden-era regulations were, including setting acceptable levels of formaldehyde for chemical processes below the levels at which humans exhale formaldehyde.
Ricketts spoke about the need to outcompete China, stating that China is the “greatest existential threat to our country.” He emphasized that supply chains no longer need to be reliant on China, stating that America relies too much on animal feed.
He added that the Biden administration was so extreme that the 46th president wanted to “ban the internal combustion engine.”
Ricketts said that America “needs to get out of own way” and stop socialist Democrats to beat “Communist China.”