Opinion | Permitting reform would strengthen Alabama’s medical community, economy

Alabama Political Reporter, Kelly Reese

Alabama’s medical community—as well as communities across the state—would benefit from comprehensive, bipartisan permitting reform at the federal level. Currently, our nation’s broken permitting process slows down a number of energy and infrastructure-related projects, which could potentially help bring down costs for patients and improve access to care while also creating jobs and growing our state’s economy. 

Building out, improving, and modernizing Alabama’s energy infrastructure would help Alabama increase our clean energy capabilities while bringing down costs. That would be a win-win for the medical community, enabling providers to help make quality healthcare a reality for more Americans. To do that more efficiently, however, Congress needs to greatly streamline and simplify the federal permitting process for new infrastructure projects.

It just makes sense to make it easier to build new clean energy projects that will strengthen our economy and lead to greater efficiencies. That is especially true for the medical community, which needs to think outside the box when it comes to supporting policies that can help bring down the overall cost of care. Increasing clean energy production that could reduce costs and strengthening the reliability of our roads and bridges to improve access to care for those in need are both laudable goals that smart public policy should support.

Clean energy and infrastructure development is critical to Alabama’s economy, our medical providers and patients, and our communities. We need Senator Katie Boyd Britt to help support and move forward smart policies that will help expedite government review and permitting for new energy infrastructure projects in order to make it easier to create local jobs, support more vibrant communities, and improve access to high-quality, affordable healthcare for all Alabamans, particularly those in low-income and rural communities where access is scarce.