Webinar—Practical Pathways and Tools for State Permitting Reform

Once consigned to developer boardrooms and rural town hall meetings, the topic of state and local permitting processes has leapt into the mainstream in 2026. These hurdles are a critical and increasingly binding constraint on clean energy deployment, and thus lower energy prices. While “permitting reform” is often discussed as a single goal, in practice it encompasses a diverse set of challenges, reform strategies, and governance levels that vary significantly by state and community context.

This one‑hour webinar will launch RMI’s State Permitting Power Tool, a new, publicly available resource designed to help policymakers, advocates, and practitioners quickly identify the specific permitting barriers facing a state and explore policy reforms that are responsive to those challenges. The tool distills insights from dozens of recent permitting playbooks and analyses that we scoured to turn into a practical, challenge‑driven decision aid.

The launch will be complemented by two applied perspectives:

• Land and Liberty Coalition will share lessons from working directly with rural communities on siting and permitting, with a focus on trust‑building, landowner engagement, and community‑centered process design.
• Clean Tomorrow will discuss recent legislative trends and provide insights into state-specific reforms advancing in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Iowa, highlighting how policy design can respond to on-the-ground barriers while remaining politically durable.

Together, the session will move beyond abstract conversations about permitting reform to focus on how states, advocates, and communities can translate diagnosis into action.

Webinar Objectives

By the end of the webinar, participants will:

1. Understand why permitting reform is not a monolith and gain clarity on the different categories of permitting challenges states face.
2. Learn how to use the State Permitting Power Tool as a diagnostic resource by navigating the menu of policy reforms grounded in existing literature and practice.
3. Hear practical insights from rural community engagement to reduce conflict, improve project outcomes, and shape more effective permitting processes.
4. Explore real‑world legislative pathways in PA, CO, and IA, and what this implies for other states considering reform.
5. Create space for peer learning, discussion, and Q&A across states, advocacy organizations, and practitioners.