Dear Editor: A Remedy for Stomach Knots

Dear Editor,

While some people are thrilled to golf in February, I wake up with a knot in my stomach. Winter used to mean reliable snow and temperatures that stayed below freezing. Now we hover in the 40s and even 50s. I find myself asking: Why can't I ski this year? What will this mean for wildfire season? For water? For summer?

If you feel that too, it's easy to slip into helplessness. The climate feels too big, too global, too far beyond our control.

But there is one practical step we can take right now that would make a real difference: permitting reform.

It's not flashy. It won't trend on social media. But it really matters.

Permitting reform involves updating and streamlining the process that allows energy projects to get approved and built. Right now, that process is slow and outdated. It can take years just to complete environmental reviews for major energy projects, and transmission lines can take close to a decade to permit and construct.

Meanwhile, energy projects are waiting in line. The bottleneck isn't technology. It's paperwork. And nobody likes more paperwork.

As our energy demand rises, outdated permitting rules are slowing construction, driving up costs, and keeping cleaner energy sources from coming online. More than 95% of projects currently awaiting grid connection are clean energy developments.

The good news is that this is not a partisan issue. Lawmakers in both parties have acknowledged that America's permitting system needs modernization. Senator Steve Daines has spoken in favor of commonsense permitting reform to help speed up energy and infrastructure projects and reduce unnecessary delays. If Congress is serious about strengthening grid reliability, lowering costs, and building a cleaner energy future, this is an area where Montana's delegation can lead.

I encourage fellow Montanans to contact Senators Daines and Sheehy and Representatives Zinke and Downing to urge them to prioritize bipartisan clean energy permitting reform. Go to https://citizensclimatelobby.org/pr to make your voice heard.

TAYLOR HAIN

Bozeman