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This is a week of dramatic energy developments—some mostly good, some bad and some mixed. Here’s what manufacturers need to know.
The (mostly) good: The Jordan Cove liquid natural gas terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon, received approval from the Department of Energy on Monday, clearing the way for the West Coast’s first liquefied natural gas terminal capable of exporting low-carbon energy to Asia.
- Why it matters: The project offers increased energy security for the United States while also enabling a shift to cleaner fuels—the kind of modern initiative that will play a key role in climate action.
- A note of caution: The DOE approval isn’t the final word; activists will continue fighting the project in court and try to keep manufacturing progress from being made.
The bad: Even though the project won a 7-2 victory in the Supreme Court just three weeks ago, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy were forced to cancel the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on Sunday.
- Why it matters: The project was intended to energize Mid-Atlantic manufacturing with clean natural gas, but years of court battles and needless permitting delays exhausted it. As NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons put it on Twitter, “All those who depend on reliable sources of American energy are disappointed.”
The bad cont’d: On Monday, a DC court ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline to shut down until yet another additional environmental review is completed, on top of many previous reviews.
- Why it matters: This underground pipeline benefits communities across the Midwest and provides a clean, safe route for oil transportation.
The mixed: The Supreme Court refused to let the Keystone XL project start building again—but at the same time, it did reinstate a critical nationwide permit system for other new energy infrastructure projects.
- What to expect: Activists have already threatened to attack other projects with the same arguments they used against Keystone XL, which could hold up much-needed progress.
The last word: “At a time when we have faced record-breaking unemployment and our country is struggling to get back on her feet, we can’t tell families to wait through more unnecessary delays or until the courts sort things out in a few years,” NAM Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Rachel Jones says. “We have run out of time for political wrangling. Manufacturers need policymakers to cut through the fighting so we can build more, do more and make more.”
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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