Washington cannot expect Americans to invest for decades while managing energy policy one election at a time. Main Street owners put their savings, their businesses, and their employees’ livelihoods behind every expansion. They need confidence that the energy supporting those commitments will be available and affordable long after the next administration takes office. President Donald Trump’s effort to ease diesel costs is welcome. Now, Washington must deliver a comprehensive strategy for the entire energy ecosystem that encourages long-term investment and hiring.
Diesel is an economic artery running through American life. It powers the trucks bringing groceries to neighborhood stores, the equipment building homes, and the freight carrying American products to market. When diesel costs rise, the pressure travels with every delivery. A grocer must accept a thinner margin or raise prices. A contractor must absorb another expense or increase a bid. Working families pay more for essentials, while business owners have less money to expand.
Trump’s Oct. 5 order directs temporary federal penalty relief and conditional tax deferral for highway use of dyed diesel. Deferral does not eliminate the tax obligation, and the order does not itself resolve the Environmental Protection Agency’s requirements or state restrictions. The administration must work with fuel distributors, truckers, and states to make any relief clear and usable. Businesses need to know what they can sell, what they can use, and what they may eventually owe.
Those implementation questions reveal the larger challenge. Energy policy must work from the refinery to the distributor to the customer. A trucker replacing a rig needs to plan beyond the next fill-up. A manufacturer needs dependable electricity when new equipment begins operating. Washington must connect immediate relief with a comprehensive strategy that gives businesses confidence to invest and hire for years ahead.
That starts with treating America’s entire energy ecosystem as essential to growth. Production, refining, storage, transportation, electricity generation, and transmission depend on one another. Additional oil must become usable fuel and reach the customer. Additional electricity must reach the community where a factory is expanding. Strength in one part cannot compensate for a critical weakness elsewhere. A comprehensive strategy must connect these investments to the businesses and families they serve.
The consequences of overlooking those connections are tangible. The Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. refining capacity declined by more than 250,000 barrels per day during 2025. It also explains that limited pipeline connections between Gulf Coast refining hubs and the West Coast can magnify the regional effects of refinery closures. America can possess substantial energy resources and still leave businesses vulnerable because the capacity to process or deliver them is insufficient where it matters.
Washington must give commercially viable investments a dependable path forward. That includes modernization, expansion, and new infrastructure where demand justifies it. Investors must decide whether projects can compete and earn a return. Government must provide clear requirements and timely decisions so that capital can move toward meeting America’s energy needs. Delays to viable projects can postpone equipment orders, contracts for smaller suppliers, and jobs for workers.
Permitting reform is central to that obligation. Agencies should coordinate reviews, establish requirements early, and meet accountable deadlines. Communities deserve meaningful participation, and environmental and safety concerns require rigorous consideration. An investor needs a decision grounded in evidence. Years of unresolved reviews leave financing uncertain and make it harder for the businesses surrounding a project to plan. Responsible review must produce an answer within a dependable timetable.
Congress must also establish durable rules that give investors greater confidence across administrations. Energy projects take years to develop and operate for decades. Abrupt policy reversals can change their economics before they deliver the capacity businesses need. Congress cannot bind every future decision, but it can put clear standards and predictable procedures into law. Both parties should recognize that reliable energy supports jobs and household budgets in every community they represent.
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Stronger domestic capacity cannot eliminate global price swings. It can improve America’s ability to respond when overseas supplies are disrupted. That resilience has practical value: a contractor better able to price future work, a manufacturer better positioned to maintain production, and an owner with more confidence to invest and hire. American energy independence must translate into greater certainty for Main Street and greater opportunity for working families.
Trump’s diesel order seeks to ease immediate pressure. Congress and the administration must now deliver a comprehensive energy strategy that encourages long-term investment and hiring. Main Street owners commit their capital, sign the loan, and take responsibility for another person’s paycheck. Washington must match that commitment by strengthening the entire energy ecosystem beyond the next election. America cannot build lasting prosperity on temporary confidence. Washington must deliver an energy strategy that lasts as long as the commitments it asks Americans to make.
Dan Varroney is an economic strategist, founder and CEO of Potomac Core, and author of Rethinking Economic Growth.