Wright Stuff: Energy Secretary SLASHES Red Tape!

Finally! Energy Secretary Chris Wright slashes bureaucratic red tape that’s been strangling our nuclear infrastructure for decades, allowing America to actually build something again while the radical environmental left fumes.

At a Glance

  • U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced major permitting reforms for DOE lands that will save taxpayers millions while accelerating critical nuclear and energy infrastructure
  • National Lab directors unanimously support these changes, citing potential cost savings in the tens of millions of dollars on individual projects
  • Reforms replace bloated government regulations with existing OSHA standards that private industry has successfully used for decades
  • Projects costing up to $300 million will now avoid bureaucratic delays that have crippled American energy development
  • These changes come after years of failed attempts at permitting reform in Congress due to environmental activists’ obstruction

Common Sense Returns to Energy Department

While Washington politicians have spent years talking about infrastructure without building much of anything, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has quietly implemented the most significant permitting reforms in decades. On March 21, 2025, Wright issued a Secretarial Order that cuts through mountains of regulatory red tape for construction projects on Department of Energy lands. This isn’t just another meaningless government initiative – the directors of America’s National Labs are practically cheering in the streets over changes they say will save taxpayers enormous sums while accelerating critical infrastructure needed for America’s energy dominance.

What makes these reforms so revolutionary is their elegant simplicity – they replace convoluted government-specific regulations with time-tested OSHA standards that the private sector has successfully used for decades. It’s the difference between having your construction project managed by an army of bureaucrats versus actual builders who know how to get things done. For projects under $300 million, this means slashing costs, expanding the pool of qualified contractors who can bid on work, and eliminating months or even years of pointless administrative delays.

National Lab Directors Unite in Support

When was the last time you saw unanimous agreement from a diverse group of scientific leaders? The directors of America’s National Laboratories – including nuclear weapons facilities – have all spoken out in strong support of Wright’s reforms. These aren’t political appointees trying to score points; they’re the scientists and engineers responsible for maintaining America’s technological edge who have been hamstrung by bureaucratic nonsense for too long. Their endorsement speaks volumes about how desperately these changes were needed and how effective they’ll be.

“I appreciate Secretary Wright’s bold action to empower the National Laboratories to more efficiently deliver transformative scientific and technological outcomes that will benefit American taxpayers. This is the most substantive and quickest change in improving lab operations that I have seen in my many years with DOE.”, says Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Director Dr. Steven Ashby.

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason didn’t mince words when he stated that the reforms “will save the federal government tens of millions of dollars on projects” by “reducing costs and avoiding overruns due to delays.” Imagine that – a government policy that actually saves money rather than wasting it! At Brookhaven National Laboratory, they’re now expecting much faster construction of the Electron-Ion Collider, while Sandia National Laboratories anticipates being able to respond more quickly to national security threats. When’s the last time you heard about the government becoming more efficient at anything?

Where Congress Failed, Energy Department Acts

For years, Congress has been promising permitting reform while delivering absolutely nothing. Multiple bills have been proposed and abandoned, all while our energy infrastructure crumbles and China races ahead building nuclear reactors at a blistering pace. The radical environmental lobby has been all too happy with this gridlock, using endless litigation and procedural delays to ensure nothing gets built. Think about it – federal and state permitting processes often take several years, with local activists causing significant project cancellations through frivolous lawsuits and regulatory abuse.

According to Los Alamos National Laboratory Director, Thom Mason: “The recent guidance issued by the Department of Energy related to how the Laboratory executes our construction activities is intended to provide new tools to improve our operations and increase our effectiveness. This guidance will have positive impacts on our construction scheduling, budgeting, work execution and safety. We believe this guidance will have a net positive impact on most of our construction activities now costing less than $300,000,000 including, Energetic Materials Characterization modular facilities and Pajarito Corridor Office Complexes (PCOCs).”

Secretary Wright’s action is a brilliant end-run around Congressional paralysis. By using his executive authority to reform practices within the Department of Energy, he’s created a model for what actual permitting reform could look like nationwide. The changes maintain safety standards through OSHA compliance – the same rules that govern private sector construction – while eliminating the duplicative, contradictory, and often nonsensical regulations that have accumulated like barnacles on a ship over decades of bureaucratic empire-building. This is exactly the kind of common-sense governance Americans have been demanding.

Revitalizing Nuclear Infrastructure

The timing couldn’t be more critical for America’s nuclear capabilities. Our nuclear infrastructure has been neglected for decades while countries like China and Russia aggressively expand theirs. From national security applications to clean energy production, nuclear technology remains one of America’s comparative advantages – if we can actually build and maintain the necessary facilities. Now, critical projects at Los Alamos, Sandia, and other nuclear sites can proceed without the bureaucratic quagmire that has delayed construction and driven up costs to astronomical levels.

It’s worth noting what Secretary Wright didn’t do here – he didn’t ask for more funding, create a new agency, or launch some grand initiative with a catchy name that would fizzle out after the press conference. Instead, he identified specific regulatory barriers that were causing real problems and eliminated them. He listened to the experts actually doing the work instead of environmental activists whose main goal is preventing development. And he acted decisively instead of forming a committee to study the problem for another five years. This is what actual leadership looks like, and it’s been sorely missing in Washington for far too long.

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