Government shutdown harming U.S. energy and jobs due to frozen EPA permitting

(The Center Square) – Energy advocates are warning of the harm the government shutdown is causing to American energy and jobs due to the fact that EPA permitting remains frozen, while the federal government’s decades of “approval-heavy policies” is likewise to blame.

Campaign director for Power America at the nonprofit research institute America First Policy Institute Ted Ellis told The Center Square that “the shutdown has disrupted essential, nonpolitical EPA work that communities rely on.”

Such services include “reviewing state air and water plans, processing permits tied to refinery upgrades, pipelines, or drinking water and wastewater projects,” Ellis said.

“When that work pauses, construction crews can’t start, state regulators can’t issue their own approvals, and private investmen