Let the Market Work: Lowering Energy Costs Through Regulatory Reform

America does not suffer from a shortage of energy resources. It suffers from too many government barriers that make those resources harder to produce, transport, and deliver to consumers. If unleashed, these resources would address the global supply shortages that impact consumers while also creating job opportunities for Americans—a win-win for the country. If policymakers want lower energy costs and reliable, secure energy supply, they should remove the unnecessary and outdated government regulations that have consistently placed this full homegrown energy potential out of reach.

When President Trump returned to office, he immediately reversed the export ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG)—a step toward boosting America’s energy independence and its role in the global economy. While this reversal allows domestic energy producers to respond to market demand, there is still more to be done. Unnecessary red tape still restricts the energy sector from providing economic relief for consumers.

Why Permitting Matters: Energy and infrastructure projects are regularly held up under slow, costly bureaucratic reviews. If we can’t proceed with necessary energy projects, we delay both economic relief for consumers and energy security for the nation and our allies. The heavy-handed government approach is crushing domestic infrastructure and the energy sector. Over-regulation doesn’t protect American consumers; it hurts them. The market needs breathing room to expand.

How Regulations Restrain Free Markets: Beyond permitting reform, energy prices and supply chain issues are exacerbated by outdated shipping regulations. For example, the Jones Act—a century-old law requiring goods shipped between U.S. ports to travel on vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, U.S.-owned, and U.S.-crewed—artificially caps competition in domestic shipping. While this sounds like an appealing America-first policy, in practice it adds costs to domestic shipping, reduces transportation flexibility and complicates the movement of oil, LNG and refined fuels between American ports.

The outdated, complicated overregulation is backfiring. What was meant to protect America’s maritime industry is now getting in the way of our own energy production and transportation. President Trump’s temporary waiver of the Jones Act was a welcome recognition that rigid shipping restrictions can worsen supply constraints and energy costs. But it is also telling that, when energy markets come under stress, presidents of both parties have turned to Jones Act waivers to create flexibility. As Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics and the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policies notes, the waivers are “fundamentally different from permanent reform, which would give market actors the consistency and predictability they need to make large, long-term investments. If the law must be waived during emergencies to reduce pressure on consumers and supply chains, we should question why it remains in place at all.

The Need For Reform: America should not need an emergency declaration to let American energy move efficiently between its own ports. And temporary waivers are not a substitute for permanent reform. An emergency waiver only proves that we are sacrificing efficiency for outdated and costly regulation. Congress should modernize permitting rules so critical energy projects can be reviewed and approved in a timely manner, and it should repeal or permanently reform the Jones Act so domestic shipping is more competitive, flexible, and responsive to consumer needs.

At a time when international conflicts are disrupting oil production and advanced technological innovations are driving new energy demand, Americans are looking for a solution to offset energy costs. Policymakers should be making it easier—not harder—to produce and deliver affordable energy. Now is the time to cut permitting and shipping regulations that restrict the free market from flourishing and prevent American energy markets from best serving American consumers.