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

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.