What was once acres and acres of oil refineries has been transformed into a new industrial campus in South Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) came to the site, now called the Bellwether District<\/a>, on May 5 for a roundtable with labor leaders and executives from Bellwether owner HRP Group, to talk about his bill, the Unlock American Jobs and Energy Act<\/a>. That bill would reform and speed up the federal permitting process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one thing we agree on 100 percent is jobs, jobs, jobs,\u201d said McCormick.<\/p>\n \u201cThe things we talked about [at the roundtable] were mostly permitting reform and the importance of speed. And certainty in terms of getting permits, and ultimately to deploy capital in places like Bellwether to ultimately create great jobs for the people of Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n If signed into law, the new bill would streamline the federal permitting process and help bring greater certainty to approval for energy projects. More than $1.5 trillion in infrastructure projects are facing delays due to federal permitting, which equals $2.4 trillion in lost economic activity and lost jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n And once a permit is granted, there would be no going back to try to stop a project, he said.<\/p>\n Some issues the bill addresses are the Clean Water Act, nuclear licensing reform, and exporting LNG.<\/p>\n While he agrees with \u201cappropriate\u201d review, the Clean Water Act, for example, has been \u201chijacked by the environmental activists to delay projects and eventually kill them,\u201d he said. \u201cLike the three pipelines that have been killed in Pennsylvania since 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe key thing is to create a time restraint on how long they have to review,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the Clean Water Act, my legislation says a year.\u201d<\/p>\n And if regulators are going to disapprove of a project, they have to explain why.<\/p>\n \u201cThe time for approval of major energy projects is five and half years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took three and half years to win World War II. This is craziness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChina approves things in a month,\u201d said McCormick, who added that he is a conservationist. \u201cIt\u2019s important for jobs\u2026It\u2019s important for our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n Broad + Liberty asked about the blocked pipeline that would carry Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas to New England. McCormick said his bill would streamline that process, although New York state might continue to block it.<\/p>\n McCormick, the former Bridgewater CEO<\/a>, said there\u2019s some $1.5 trillion waiting to be invested, however investors need certainty to invest.\u00a0<\/p>\n At a press conference following the roundtable with the new DrinkPAK<\/a> factory rising in the background, McCormick said, \u201cWe\u2019re at an enormous moment of change, AI, energy innovation, defense reindustrialization, life sciences. And Pennsylvania is positioned to be at the forefront, to really be the leader for America in all these areas and permitting reform is going to help us get that investment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWinning is a team sport,\u201d said McCormick. \u201cSo we need to have Republicans, Democrats, we need to have labor, we need to have CEOs of businesses all come together to make Pennsylvania the leader in this moment of profound change.\u201d<\/p>\n Building Trades President Wayne Miller, thanked McCormick for coming to Bellwether, saying it was \u201chuge for the Philadelphia building trades.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellwether is putting many of his union members to work and also helping with recruiting new people into the trades.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an equal opportunity for everyone in this city to get a job and have a good, sustaining job for life,\u201d said Miller. \u201cWe\u2019re not a Democrat, we\u2019re not a Republican. We\u2019re a \u2018J.\u2019 And that\u2019s for jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Broad + Liberty noted that many of McCormick\u2019s bills had bipartisan support and asked if he planned to ask Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) to become a cosponsor for the permitting reform bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCormick agreed that he\u2019s made an effort to reach out to Democratic senators, which makes his bills more likely to pass the Senate.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job is to get things done,\u201d said McCormick. \u201cAs I said on the campaign trail, I will work with anybody to get things done, whether it\u2019s Sen. Fetterman, or Mayor Parker, or whether it\u2019s Governor Shapiro. I\u2019m going to work with anybody to serve the people of Pennsylvania.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u2019s talked to Fetterman, who has been \u201ca great partner\u201d about the bill, he said.<\/p>\n He said he agrees with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (D) on several issues, including creating jobs and on safer streets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe macro picture is Pennsylvania has a lot to offer,\u201d said McCormick, touting major private sector investments in the state from the Nippon-US Steel<\/a> purchase, to Ely Lilly<\/a> and Westinghouse<\/a> to the Hanwha Philly Shipyard<\/a>.<\/p>\n McCormick believes once the Iran war is over, gas prices will go back down.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, \u201cif you\u2019re living paycheck to paycheck and gas prices are up a buck, 80 cents a gallon, you feel it,\u201d said McCormick. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want to in any way minimize the pressure, particularly on working families. I don\u2019t think investors are making different decisions based on (gas prices) right now.\u201d<\/p>\n One way to bring energy prices down is to create more capacity and permitting reform will help with that, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich is going to bring down prices for everybody,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pennsylvania has \u201call these gifts\u201d of energy, water, and people but \u201cwe can\u2019t screw it up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe key is to make sure that capital and investment come here,\u201d said McCormick. \u201cAnd I think the fact that we\u2019re a purple state honestly helps because we\u2019ve got to work together to get things done. I take that seriously\u2026On jobs and economic growth, I hope we can find common ground.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight here in Philadelphia, 1,200 acres, it\u2019s incredible,\u201d said McCormick, about the Bellwether District. \u201cJust three miles south of City Hall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n