Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
Conservatives have long argued that overregulation strangles America’s ability to build, driving up costs by causing delays and blocking new energy, infrastructure, and housing projects.
Now, in a somewhat surprising turn, many on the Left are beginning to agree. The emerging “abundance” movement has embraced a supply-side critique of environmental regulation, arguing that outdated rules and permitting delays are preventing the country from building what it needs. Just a decade ago, such arguments would have been politically unthinkable among progressives.
That shift should be a welcome development for conservatives. Yet it has also exposed a fault line within the modern Right between those who favor neutral, market-oriented reforms and those more comfortable using policy to steer outcomes. If that divide persists, it risks squandering a rare opportunity to enact reforms that would ultimately advance conservatives’ own stated principles.
Consider the current debate over permitting reform in Congress. Just months ago, major reform seemed within reach. A bipartisan bill led by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) aimed to overhaul the nation’s permitting process by narrowing the scope of environmental review, imposing enforceable review timelines, and limiting litigation — creating a faster, more predictable process for approving major projects.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Washington Examiner (paywall)
______________________
Shawn Regan is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.