(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 11, 2025)
Ken Broadbent and Mike Butler
From the industrial towns of Pennsylvania to the desert valleys of New Mexico, skilled tradesmen and women are being told to wait. Not because there’s no work to be done, but because our outdated and overburdened permitting process is grinding vital infrastructure and clean energy projects to a halt.
In the 15 Western Pennsylvania counties Steamfitters Local 449 covers — which include Allegheny and the surrounding counties — there are so many able, skilled workers ready to get to work. Yet permitting delays keep our members off job sites.
And it’s not just our local. Across the country, unions representing electricians, laborers, pipefitters and operating engineers are feeling the same pressure.
A national necessity
Permitting reform isn’t a regional issue. It’s a national necessity.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the energy sector already employs over 8 million Americans. And yet, these opportunities are being stifled. A report from the Department of Energy shows that it can take up to a decade to get major transmission projects approved. That’s 10 years of lost job creation and lost momentum building the energy we need to meet the generational increase in demand caused by data centers and AI.
Meanwhile, skilled workers are stuck in limbo. Members of Steamfitters 449 have already contributed to major infrastructure projects in Western Pennsylvania including Shell’s Beaver County plant and they are ready to support the next generation of energy projects, including carbon capture, hydrogen, and advanced geothermal. But they can’t do any of it without projects getting permitted in a timely manner.
The issue isn’t limited to Pennsylvania. In the Sun Belt or the West, as well as New Jersey and other Mid-Atlantic states, delays in permitting are stalling essential upgrades to gas infrastructure, grid modernization, and port revitalization.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and local contractor associations in the Northeast have repeatedly raised the alarm: these delays are threatening economic development.
A matter of equity
States and federal agencies alike must do more to reduce bottlenecks. That doesn’t mean sacrificing environmental review or public input. It means setting clear expectations — deadlines for agencies, defined review scopes, and expedited pathways for projects that meet high environmental and labor standards.
Every year of permitting delay adds costs to a project. Worse yet, communities that could benefit the most — rural areas, tribal nations, and frontline neighborhoods — are the ones most harmed by inaction.
Projects that could bring in jobs, lower energy costs, and reduce pollution are trapped in bureaucratic gridlock. For these communities, permitting reform is not just a policy fix. It’s a matter of equity.
America once built great things with urgency and purpose. The Hoover Dam, the interstate highway system, the Apollo space program—none of it would be possible under today’s permitting regime. We cannot afford to let our ambitions and economy be stalled by outdated systems that fail to meet the moment.
Empower workers, protect communities
This is not about left or right. It’s not about industry versus environment. It’s not about “rollbacks” — it’s about updating process to empower workers, protect communities, and build the infrastructure our country desperately needs.
Our workers are ready. Our communities are waiting. Congress and state governments must act now, to reform permitting processes, streamline approvals, get projects moving — and put America back to work.
Ken Broadbent is the business manager of Steamfitters Local #449 and Vice President of the United Association. Mike Butler is the Mid-Atlantic Executive Director of the Consumer Energy Alliance.
Ken Broadbent is the business manager of Steamfitters Local #449 and Vice President of the United Association. Mike Butler is the Mid-Atlantic Executive Director of the Consumer Energy Alliance.
