The Mountain Valley, Dakota Access, and Constitution pipelines are just a sampling of the oil and natural gas pipelines that Democrats have tried to derail in recent years. That is why I am relishing this moment in which the Trump administration is spearing pet projects of the climate lobby such as offshore wind and transmission right through the heart. It may seem petty of me to behave in this manner, but my resentment has been building for some time now. Democrats, along with their environmental allies, have been taking pot shots at the fossil fuel industry with impunity, employing spurious tactics to curb and delay project implementation.  In an ironic twist of fate, the Trump administration has imposed some of the same regulatory hurdles that the climate lobby employed to block its opponents. With the shoe on the other foot, Democrats are trying to shield their pet projects from the Trump administration’s slings and arrows.

Trump, being the perennial dealmaker, has offered to compromise with Democrats. He has proposed a hostage exchange of sorts in which Democrat leaders drop their opposition to certain oil and gas infrastructure projects, in return for the administration easing restrictions that it has imposed on offshore wind. Some Democrats like New York Governor Hochul have been receptive to Trump’s proposal while others such as Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse are defiant, unwilling to compromise on the issue of permitting. 

In fact, most of Sheldon’s Democrat colleagues in the House voted last week against a bill to reform permitting. The bill would prevent federal agencies from canceling project permits and would limit lawsuits. The goal is to prevent all types of projects from getting stuck in limbo, including offshore wind. Gauging from the recent House vote where it passed largely along partisan lines, it does not seem likely that it will pass in the Senate where sixty votes are needed. The climate lobby and their minions in the Democrat party are wedded to obstructional tactics that have served them well in the past and will not compromise, even to get offshore wind back on track.

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