{"id":382,"date":"2026-05-21T13:38:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:38:35","slug":"utah-gov-pushes-back-on-federal-red-tape-slowing-energy-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382","title":{"rendered":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Utah and Wyoming governors critiqued the federal permitting system for increasing costs, slowing infrastructure development and discouraging investment.<\/li>\n<li>They argued that the system is outdated and overly risk-averse. Wyoming&#8217;s governor called for major reforms to accelerate energy and infrastructure permitting.<\/li>\n<li>Officials say permitting delays and environmental litigation have significantly increased costs and stalled or killed projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Federal permitting for large infrastructure projects is slow and expensive. The process costs American manufacturers $7.9 billion each year, and leaders in the Mountain West say they are ready for it to change. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=380\">The politics of AI data centers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>During the Western Governors\u2019 Association\u2019s conference on energy abundance in Salt Lake City on Wednesday,Utah Gov. Spencer Cox moderated a conversation with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and the federal Permitting Council\u2019s Executive Director Emily Domenech. <\/p>\n<p>Federal permitting processes have \u201cdefaulted to the largest, longest level of review, whether it\u2019s appropriate under the law or not,\u201d Domenech explained. <\/p>\n<p>During former President Joe Biden\u2019s administration, the Permitting Council finished one mining permit. \u201cNow we have 57, and we\u2019ve finished permitting on 16, which is a pretty big number considering many of them have been there for a decade. We want to finish all of those,\u201d Domenech said. <\/p>\n<p>The regulatory structure built in the federal government over the last century does not simply need reform, Gordon said. \u201cIt is time, in my mind, that we erase the board.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings are so different now than they were in the \u201960s, \u201970s, \u201980s, \u201990s and even the early 2000s,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to have this sort of archaic system.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Federal permitters should \u201cthink not about what we shouldn\u2019t be doing, but incentivizing based on what outcomes we would like to see,\u201d Gordon said. <\/p>\n<p>The panelists agreed that permitting reforms are necessary for Western states to scale energy production. \u201cWe\u2019re at this really interesting moment in time where there\u2019s a colossal need for more energy,\u201d Cox said. The increased need for power is largely to support artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=378\">The commencement speech backlash no one saw coming<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The event was sponsored by Advanced Energy United, American Clean Power, Arnold Ventures, Amazon Web Service, Deloitte, Idaho National Laboratory, JP Morgan Chase, McKinsey &amp; Company, Pew Research and others. <\/p>\n<h3>Time does not ensure safety, Cox says<\/h3>\n<p>There is a misnomer that speed and environmental safety are mutually exclusive, Cox said. \u201cThat\u2019s certainly not true.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>However, delays do make projects more expensive. Every three-year delay doubles the price of an infrastructure project in the U.S., Cox said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt takes 15 years to get a project done. That\u2019s 25 times more expensive,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhat that means is not just that a project got more expensive, but there were 20 other projects that just never got anywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He continued, \u201cA fast \u2018no\u2019 is better than a \u2018maybe someday\u2019 because you can\u2019t do anything with \u2018maybe someday.\u2019 &#8230; That\u2019s how you kill projects. That\u2019s how you kill innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cox added that the U.S. shouldn\u2019t allow environmental groups to hold up major infrastructure projects once they\u2019ve been given the green light by permitters.<\/p>\n<p>Environmental lawsuits have halted many infrastructure projects across the West. In Utah, for example, environmental litigation has halted a 4.5-mile highway for multiple decades. The road would cross a small portion of Red Cliffs National Conservation Area and has been approved locally and federally; however, lawsuits from conservation groups halt any progress. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=376\">High school boys lacrosse: Brighton, Park City set for 5A championship rematch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow are we going to stay alive if we are never going to build?\u201d Cox asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western governors advocated for permitting reforms during a WGA session, saying the current system drives up infrastructure costs and slows projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Western governors advocated for permitting reforms during a WGA session, saying the current system drives up infrastructure costs and slows projects.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Environment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382\",\"name\":\"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif\",\"width\":630,\"height\":331},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=382#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Movers Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub","og_description":"Western governors advocated for permitting reforms during a WGA session, saying the current system drives up infrastructure costs and slows projects.","og_url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382","og_site_name":"American Movers Hub","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"headline":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects","datePublished":"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382"},"wordCount":619,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif","articleSection":["Environment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382","name":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects - American Movers Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-21T13:38:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c312a2682ef95251a620d64515b56e20.avif","width":630,"height":331},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=382#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Utah Gov. pushes back on federal red tape slowing energy projects"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/","name":"American Movers Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanmovershub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}