U.S. Chamber energy plan calls for more drilling, end to regulatory ‘barriers’

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday floated energy policy principles that the powerful business group said would spur job and economic growth.

The plan includes expanded offshore oil-and-gas drilling and renewables development on federal lands, as well as a self-funding “Clean Energy Bank” to provide loan guarantees and other financing options for technologies like nuclear power and renewables.

It also calls for ending “regulatory barriers” that the group alleges prevent the certainty needed to spur private investment in new energy projects of various stripes, including coal plants and renewable-energy projects.

The plan — floated by the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy — includes a call for “streamlining” project reviews conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act and policies that streamline construction of power transmission lines.

The plan also calls for “critically examining” how application of the Clean Air Act affects energy development and amending the law as needed to ensure continued investment.

The broadly worded plan doesn’t explicitly call for blocking the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases, but the Chamber has called for blocking EPA rules in the past.

Karen Harbert, who heads the Chamber's energy institute, reiterated at a press briefing that the group supports preempting EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases.