Too much nationwide electricity is still generated by burning fossil fuels, causing air pollution responsible for 250,000 deaths annually here in the U.S. This scourge is concentrated primarily in disadvantaged areas.

The good news is that tax credits and incentives built into the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act passed last summer will help us make the transition to clean electricity, saving lives and mitigating climate change.

But there is a bottleneck that could mean that only 20% of the Inflation Reduction Act’s benefits are realized: the lack of sufficient transmission capacity to get clean power from where it is generated, often over state lines, to where it is used. Experts tell us this capacity must be tripled by 2050. But, over the last decade, our electricity transmission infrastructure has grown by only 1% per year, too slow a pace to fend off climate change and stem the use of polluting fossil fuels.

On average, it currently takes a decade to build a new transmission line. Local, state and federal entities must better coordinate their work and set more aggressive timelines to speed up the permitting process while ensuring that the public interest is protected.

2023 must be the year Congress leads on this urgent issue. Tell Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins and Rep. Chellie Pingree or Rep. Jared Golden to support the creation and passage of a strong federal permitting bill that accelerates the buildout of high-capacity transmission infrastructure for clean electricity.

Sam Saltonstall
Brunswick

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