Grid queues can outlast the construction itself. Thousands of projects sit stuck behind one plant's paperwork with no deadline forcing an answer. The fix is first-ready-first-served cluster studies with hard deadlines and readiness deposits that weed out speculative filings, plus full enforcement of FERC Order No. 2023, which is already final law.

Environmental reviews routinely run past a decade with no real deadline, often re-studying effects already well understood from comparable projects. Citizens' Climate Lobby's ask: hard time limits (1-2 years) and page limits (75-300 pages), one lead agency, and reuse of prior review findings instead of starting from scratch every time.

A project can need sign-off from several federal agencies running separate, sequential reviews. The single slowest one sets the pace for everyone else's already-finished work. The fix is one shared schedule and record of decision across every agency involved, using the FAST-41 model extended beyond its current small set of covered projects.

A single state, or even just one county within it, can block a transmission line meant to serve an entire region, with no federal option if local approval stalls. The fix is federal backstop siting authority for nationally significant lines, the same model that already governs interstate gas pipelines.

A fully-approved project can still be re-litigated for years, with no deadline to file a challenge and no deadline to decide it. Citizens' Climate Lobby has proposed cutting the filing window from 6 years down to 5 months, paired with a single consolidated venue and expedited briefing.

Local opposition usually shows up only after the site and design are already locked in. By then it's an all-or-nothing fight instead of a negotiation. The fix is real engagement and binding community benefit agreements early, before decisions are set in stone.