U.S. Rep. Westerman discusses flooding, tariffs, and energy expansion efforts

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, shared his thoughts on the response to flooding and storms across his expansive 4th Congressional District of Arkansas. In a recent Talk Business & Politics interview conducted Wednesday (April 16), Westerman said the early stages of disaster recovery from the flooding and storms over a week ago are underway.

Other highlights of the interview, which is part of TB&P’s newly expanded coverage of D.C. politics, include:

• His support for and sponsorship of the controversial SAVE Act [Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act], which changes some federal requirements for voting;
• Tariffs and the impact President Donald Trump’s policies are having on businesses in his district; and
• Westerman’s hesitation on a broad tariff strategy, but his expectations for the president’s efforts.

Earlier this month, Trump issued an executive order on coal that could open up new leases for mining coal on federal land and loosen emission standards for coal plants. The order aims to increase coal power production, including the possibility that the U.S. Department of Energy could force coal plant owners to keep operating, even if they have already shut down or plan to do so.

Westerman hopes the order will be a step in addressing the need for more power generation to meet rising consumer and business demand. Westerman said he is working with colleagues to reform the permitting process for energy, infrastructure, and forest management.

If the permitting process could be streamlined, he said, the timeline for constructing new power plants — natural gas, coal or nuclear — could be reduced by years.

“Nuclear is the big one, but it just takes so long to build a plant, and that’s probably the most important issue that I’m working on in the [Natural Resources] committee and really in Congress, working with other committees in the Senate, is permitting reform,” Westerman said. “It’s a major, major issue that needs to be addressed with our country. It’s one of the reasons we can’t build energy projects any faster or build roads and bridges and ports and dredge waterways and build runways at airports or manage the forest. It’s a process that really gets bogged down in the bureaucracy.”

You can listen to his full interview here.