Those who oppose progress do their best to prevent it, and have done so for decades. They now use the lack of progress during those decades as an argument against the possibility of future progress.

It's worth noting that if we had to build today's energy infrastructure working under the current regulatory and NIMBY burden, it probably could not be done. So it shouldn't be surprising that building a new energy infrastructure is proving so hard. There's a reason why many of us think deregulation is a big issue and it's not because we want to see people poisoned by Chinese botchagaloop.

Opposition to nuclear energy is one glaring example of the problem cited here in the past, but there's a general drag on progress from a crufted up bureaucracy. Each petty fiefdom diligently pursues its regulatory opposition to everything it can grab, since that's what pays the wages. They make careers out of obstruction and delay, and use the long delays caused by their behavior to lobby for increased staff and funds. They more they get, the worse things get, and the more they want.