Ted Boling Quoted in Politico—GOP to Energy Companies: We’re Here to Help. Industry: Meh.
Partner Ted Boling was quoted in "GOP to Energy Companies: We're Here to Help. Industry: Meh.," an article in Politico, regarding the overhaul in permitting rules and how they do little to help advance major projects that are key to boosting jobs, lowering energy prices, and meeting climate targets.
While the NEPA process gets the blame for hold-ups, it's merely a tracking process for all agency and permitting decisions along the timeline of a project, said Ted Boling, a partner at the law firm Perkins Coie who represents the companies building Cardinal-Hickory Creek.
Delays are more often a result of agency capacity and inadequate information provided by project sponsors, he said. He noted that Congress used the Inflation Reduction Act to provide $1 billion for beefing up agencies' permitting staff, but that effort has not yet been realized.
"Everyone's looking for their bright idea on how to make it all taste better and be less filling," said Boling, who was a permitting official at the Interior Department and CEQ during both Republican and Democratic administrations. "Everybody is in relentless pursuit of improvements to the point where we're tripping over ourselves."
