Rep. Mike Levin Pushes Interior Department on Renewable Energy Permitting

Skip to content I Want to Hear from You About Your Health Care Concerns. NEW: Rep. Levin Announces New District Data Map to Showcase Federal Project Funding. Close About Services Federal Project Funding Map Federal Policy Impact Resources Clean Energy Tax Credits Help With A Federal Agency Constituent Success Stories Community Resources List Commendations and Greetings Grants Applicants Tours and Tickets Military Academy Nominations Internships Flags Surplus Books Program Art Competition Constituent of the Month Congressional App Challenge Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Program Member-Designated Transportation Projects Community Project Funding Requests The Congressional Award News Press Releases In The News Op-Eds Contact Email Me Newsletter Subscription Offices Internships Request a Meeting with Rep. Levin Website Problem I Want To Hear From You Español Close Search Site SEARCH About Services Federal Project Funding Map Federal Policy Impact Resources Clean Energy Tax Credits Help With A Federal Agency Constituent Success Stories Community Resources List Commendations and Greetings Grants Applicants Tours and Tickets Military Academy Nominations Internships Flags Surplus Books Program Art Competition Constituent of the Month Congressional App Challenge Vietnam War 50th Commemoration Program Member-Designated Transportation Projects Community Project Funding Requests The Congressional Award News Press Releases In The News Op-Eds Contact Email Me Newsletter Subscription Offices Internships Request a Meeting with Rep. Levin Website Problem I Want To Hear From You MENU Español Search Instagram Icon Twitter Icon Facebook Icon Youtube Icon Bluesky Icon Home News Press Releases August 18, 2026 Rep. Mike Levin Pushes Interior Department on Renewable Energy Permitting In New Letter, Rep. Levin & House Colleagues Demand Transparency on the Status of Permit Approvals for Clean Energy Projects Washington, D.C.— Today, Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49), alongside Ranking Members Chellie Pingree (ME-01) and Jared Huffman (CA-02), led colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee and Natural Resources Committee in a letter to Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum urging an end to the Department’s delays of clean energy project permits and on-time submission of required reports to ensure accountability. In the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY2026) Interior Appropriations bill, Rep. Levin secured language directing DOI to provide bimonthly reports on the status of permitting approvals for energy projects. DOI missed three reporting deadlines—March 24, 2026, May 23, 2026, and July 22, 2026. The Trump Administration has intentionally delayed permit approvals for clean energy projects, including a near complete block on wind and solar energy permitting. Despite court orders to overturn these hurdles for clean energy developments, the Administration continues to place new barriers on projects that would provide American households with access to affordable renewable energy. At a time when we need to add as much energy to our grid as possible, the Administration’s lack of timely reports keeps Americans in the dark about the role these delays are playing in rising energy prices. The letter pushes Secretary Burgum to submit the required reports in a timely manner and end the procedural hurdles to clean energy development that would lower Americans’ energy bills. It also outlines specific oversight questions for the Administration to answer in the reports. Read the letter here and below: Dear Secretary Burgum: We write to request an update on the status of clean energy projects that the Department of the Interior (DOI) has been delaying arbitrarily. The bipartisan Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Division C of Public Law 119-74) requires status reports on the reviews of energy projects every 60 days. The Department missed three deadlines—March 24, 2026, May 23, 2026, and July 22, 2026— to provide Congress with these reports, and has only recently provided the first report. As the backlog of projects continues to grow, we urge your timely submission of these required reports to Congress, and that you lift the procedural hurdles to clean energy deployment that the Department has implemented. Since President Trump has been in office, the Department of the Interior has been systematically disadvantaging wind and solar energy projects, while propping up fossil energy. Throughout your tenure, you have issued arbitrary directives, including the consideration of an energy project’s “capacity density,” [1] the July 15, 2025, directive requiring that “all decisions, actions, consultations, and other undertakings” related to wind and solar energy receive your personal approval, [2] and the payment of $2.5 billion of taxpayer funds to energy companies to walk away from their offshore wind projects. [3] Other energy sources are not facing this same scrutiny. As a result of this increased and