WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (WV News) — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said she is optimistic about reforming the federal permitting process for energy projects.

Capito, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, recently told attendees of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit that a bipartisan compromise finally could be possible after numerous stalled attempts.

“One of the things that’s holding you all up, the state up and others up for building is the permitting process,” she said. “The regulatory morass of trying to build something in this country is just ridiculous. It’s overburdened, it’s timely, it’s costly and some people just give up.”

Capito cited the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a natural gas project that faced years

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