Michael Bennon

Our study on EIS permit durations under NEPA is now available open access in the Journal of Regulatory Economics. We studied nearly 1300 EIS's and the drivers of permit durations (in years) and page counts. Some results below... link.springer.com/article/10.100…

The Washington Metro, a new underground railway serving the capital of the United States, commences operation with a 4.6mi (7.5km) “Red” line between Farragut North and Rhode Island Avenue. Children queue to ride first.

SPEED story: House passes major GOP-led permitting overhaul after late drama. And on to the Senate we go! subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/1…

The biggest threat to American global competitiveness, and it does not matter if your priorities are climate change, affordability, the AI race, national security or all of the above, is our country’s complete inability to build and upgrade transmission at any meaningful scale.

Remember when Jane Jacobs wrote that downzoning is good insofar as it stops "cataclysmic money" from changing the mixed-income character of the West Village

Every industry wants certainty that the permitting process won’t be weaponized against them by the executive branch. Great to see movement here today as the bipartisan SPEED Act passed out of committee!

New CEQA opinion nixing (again!) the voters' repeal of a 30' height limit in San Diego is a near-perfect vehicle for CA Supreme Court to jettison the worst of "Old CEQA." Very glad that @MayorToddGloria is determined to appeal it. 🧵

Energy costs have tracked inflation historically. That stability is now at risk after scores of projects across every source were cancelled over past decade due to permitting. Without reform, we will not have affordable & reliable energy. A partial list of projects affected: 🧵

This pretty much sums up what went wrong with Biden era industrial policy:

Cool example of government data transparency: DOE is publishing a public dataset of 120,000 NEPA documents from 60,000 projects prepared by 60 different agencies. This will improve the quality of AI tools used to prepare environmental reviews.

Not loving @nytimes's "housing trumps the environment" gloss on today's generational reforms of CEQA. These reforms most certainly are not an invitation to pave over paradise. 1/9

Check out this important father & son op-ed endorsing @BuffyWicks's AB 609 -- a bill that would conclusively remove infill housing development from CEQA. The father is Nick Yost, who led Cal DOJ in 1970s, wrote the brief that became Friends of Mammoth, and later... 1/3

SCOTUS Seven County decision is out! TLDR: It’s a big deal, it limits NEPA, it’s better than expected, BUT… there’s still uncertainty. The ruling does two things: - Calls for giving agencies more discretion - Sets clear limits on what EIS reviews have to consider 🧵(1/14)

On the Supreme Court's dramatic transformation of NEPA law in today's decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County Co: Those of us concerned about the imperative to enable government to function more effectively have frequently mentioned the way the expansion of NEPA's role since the 1970s -- through judicial doctrine, mostly in the DC Circuit -- has contributed to raising the cost, delay, and failure of a range of public projects.

Really interesting Q&A here. I think the key is finding middle ground between the first and second part of this answer.

After reading @GaneshSitaraman & Chris Serkin's "Post-Neoliberal Housing Policy" alongside @ezraklein's interview of @ZephyrTeachout & @saikatc, I think I'm finally starting to understand the crux of the Left's vehement reaction to Abundance. 🧵/22

Last week for American Purpose and @JoinPersuasion I wrote about the federal civil service, NEPA reform, and sheep. persuasion.community/p/unleash-the-…

Future U.S. growth depends on whether we can build housing, energy generation, data centers, & more. But we face long-standing obstacles to building. I wrote for @ForeignAffairs about how building is a pragmatic, politically powerful path forward… And how to get it done.

Just show this video to every lawmaker in the country.

It's a longstanding problem that forests burn down while the Forest Service spends years studying whether they should do controlled burns and mechanical thinning. But I think the Forest Service could fix that, on its own, without congressional involvement -- and quickly.

🚨 There it is. Removal of all NEPA regulations is coming shortly... It's an interim final rule, meaning that the administration does not plan on going through notice and comment first. Here we go! No turning back now...