Drilling

When the administration was asked why the US is okay with drilling in Venezuela but not in the US the answer was that there are 9,000 oil permits issued on government land that are not being used. This is the same problem that the infrastructure bill is encountering. Federal leases are subject to environmental studies. They're also subject to lawsuits filed by neighbors, by municipalities, by counties and state government. There are also regulatory processes and court decisions. For example. In 2006 Twin Metals company started the process to mine copper and nickle in Northern Minnesota On January 26,2022, the US Department of the Interior canceled two leases required to build and operate the mine. This is the kind of thing that most of the infrastructure projects will encounter.