Here in Utah and around the country, the next generation of young Republican leaders are ready to take the reins on some of the biggest issues of our times, like climate issues and clean energy. If implemented correctly, our transition to cleaner energy and a more modern, sustainable electric grid can help create jobs, strengthen local businesses and attract new ones to our state, and power a more robust, resilient economy throughout Utah and nationwide.

Investing in clean and renewable energy production, transmission and technology can help Utah become a leader in market-driven, innovative clean energy solutions that strengthen reliability and lower costs for our homes and businesses while reducing the air pollution for which the Beehive State is notoriously known.

Fortunately, led by smart, pro-growth energy policies, state leaders and private developers are working together to make these investments — in solar energy and storage systems, geothermal energy projects, and smaller-scale, advanced nuclear power plants. Getting ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting and implanting these innovative energy solutions will help us create well-paying jobs and spur economic growth in our communities, ensuring we are leading on the clean energy transition in a way that makes sense for Utah.

However, to maximize the impact of these critical energy investments, we also need our lawmakers in Washington to pass bipartisan permitting reform at the federal level. The current, dysfunctional permitting process for energy and infrastructure projects often leads to massive delays — adding costs and years onto project timelines — or even prevents them from ever breaking ground. As these projects stall out or take years longer than necessary to complete, Utah communities lose out on the jobs, economic activity and environmental benefits they would otherwise provide.

Streamlining the permitting process and eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles to new energy development can help expedite Utah’s emerging clean energy leadership in everything from geothermal and solar power to advanced nuclear and geothermal energy to energy storage and efficiency. In other words, to help us cut emissions, we need lawmakers to first cut through the red tape by passing federal permitting reform.

Permitting reform would help Utah move critical, economy-building energy projects forward more efficiently and effectively, putting Utahns to work and growing our clean energy workforce and economy. Ultimately, such reforms would also help ensure that free-market forces — and not overly burdensome government mandates — decide what kinds of clean energy succeed and work best for Utah homes, businesses and communities.

According to recent polling, the majority of young Republican voters believe the United States should be prioritizing the development of renewable energy. Nearly 8 in 10 young Republicans ages 18 to 29 years old believe human activity contributes to climate change, and two-thirds support investing in renewables like “solar and geothermal development over increasing fossil fuel production.”

This should be a wake-up call for conservative leaders from Salt Lake City to Washington, D.C., that we cannot leave clean energy policy up to the left. Otherwise, we will end up with government mandates dictating our clean energy transition rather than the free market. With control of both chambers of Congress as well as the White House, Republicans must seize the opportunity we have to lead on pro-growth, climate-smart energy policies that support increased investments in clean energy to help create jobs, improve the quality of life in our communities and bolster our entire economy.

I want to thank Sen. John Curtis for helping to lead the charge by pushing for federal permitting reform that can maximize the much-needed energy and infrastructure investments coming to our state and help unlock Utah’s full clean energy potential.