13th & Park
"13th & Park" hosts insightful conversations with special guests covering a broad range of topics from politics and government, to technology, culture, economics and the media. Listeners eavesdrop on what feel like private conversations featuring the savviest and most highly regarded minds in the country. The show, co-hosted by media veterans Adam Goodman and Justin Sayfie, is produced by Ballard Partners in the Ballard Studios in Washington DC.
13th & Park
Oklahoma Senator Alan Armstrong on Fixing America's Broken Permitting System | 13th & Park
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Oklahoma Senator Alan Armstrong joins Adam Goodman on 13th and Park for a candid conversation about what happens when a career energy executive trades the boardroom for the Senate floor with a singular mission and a nine-month clock. Armstrong spent nearly four decades at the Williams Companies, rising to CEO of the Tulsa-based firm that handles roughly one-third of America's natural gas, before Governor Stitt tapped him to fill the vacancy left by Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen. His focus from day one: the most comprehensive permitting reform proposal in congressional history.
Armstrong breaks down why permitting reform matters far beyond its dry, technical-sounding name. He connects the dots between a culture of blocking infrastructure projects and the soaring utility bills hitting American households, particularly in the Northeast, where opposition to natural gas pipelines has left residents paying $4.50 a gallon for heating oil instead of the natural gas equivalent of $0.46. He recalls a pivotal meeting with then-Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, who openly told him cheap natural gas was unwelcome because it would undercut the political pressure to invest in greener alternatives, a candid admission Armstrong says the public never got to hear.
The senator is equally candid about the challenge of building a bipartisan coalition in a Senate paralyzed ahead of the midterms. He describes the frustration of watching moderate Democrats, who privately understand the urgency, face relentless pressure to block anything that might be called a win for the current administration. His colleague John Barrasso, he says with a laugh, watches him wrestle with the politics and just shakes his head. Armstrong is clear-eyed about the timeline: he almost certainly will not be in the chamber when a signing ceremony happens, but he does not care whose name is on the bill. He just wants it done.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:29 Host Introduction and Oklahoma Story
2:15 The Call from Governor Stitt
4:32 Family Reaction and the Landrieu Connection
5:24 What Is Permitting Reform?
7:43 Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Public Education
9:46 Northeast Pipelines and Higher Emissions
11:10 The Deval Patrick Meeting
12:24 Building a Bipartisan Coalition
14:53 China Is Building Faster Than America
17:23 Texas Roots and the Williams Companies Legacy
19:30 Building Infrastructure vs. Building Coalitions
21:31 Legacy Beyond the Senate Term
22:16 Appointed Senators Who Came Before
23:15 Closing Thoughts
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