Novel with teleportation and a progress-delaying bureaucrat?

A decade or more ago, I read a novel in which a bureaucrat (sorta), whose main responsibility was to prevent change from happening too rapidly, ends up trying to prevent all teleportation from failing. It's so common, people live in high-rises with no doors, so the death toll would be immense. He eventually learns that living stars are having their energy sucked away by the teleportation.

I liked the character, but I don't remember his name or the name of the novel.