Michael Gerrard, Columbia University: In an effort to build more renewable energy facilities as well as conventional projects, Congress, many federal agencies, and numerous states are adopting shortcuts, exemptions, accelerated schedules, and other methods to expedite or eliminate permitting. This lecture will explore the various techniques that are being used, will consider whether they undercut or advance the objectives of the environmental laws whose implementation they are affecting, and will explore whether there is a better way to advance desirable projects.