President Trump works with Montana and Wyoming to unleash American energy

President Trump joined with miners, legislators, and stakeholders to announce his Executive Orders on April 18th aimed at revitalizing the coal industry and unleashing the American energy sector. Trump’s action will direct the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a mineral and require agencies to lift all anti-coal policies that add unnecessary restrictions. Additionally, it streamlines the leasing and permitting processes to promote an environment of efficiency and dominance around the mineral arena.

Among the reopened leasing programs is Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon were present for the signing of these energy orders. Both of these governors are major supporters of getting the government out of the private sector’s way and letting the free market pave the way in the energy industry.

The President noted, “Already under our leadership, the Department of Interior has already approved the expansion of the Spring Creek Mine in Montana, supporting 280 coal mining jobs, unlocking over 40 million tons of coal. There is more to come.” 

Governor Gianforte said, “I’ll continue to work with the President and his administration to ensure Montanans have access to affordable and reliable energy for their homes, schools, and small businesses.”

Montana has a wealth of energy operations, including coal, wind, solar, and small hydroelectric plants. Its production of coal is the 6th highest in the country, and accounts for roughly 30% of recoverable coal reserves in the country. Exporting this energy source to other states and Western Canada makes the local economy dependent upon coal mining and production. Governor Gianforte has balanced both lowering emissions and being environmentally conscious, with growing and supporting the local energy economy.

He’s launching the “Unleashing Energy Task Force,” focused on continuing to develop a long-term vision and action points for Montana to generationally provide quality energy for states and nearby countries, in turn, ensuring the economy sustainably grows and offers a great way of life to miners and other industry workers.

Governor Gordon commented at the signing ceremony, “This is a great day for Wyoming coal. We produce more coal than any other state in the nation. These Executive Orders will be impactful for our state’s coal industry and will help ensure Wyoming coal is available to help meet our nation’s growing energy demand. I thank President Trump for his work in freeing our country from the unnecessarily burdensome regulations imposed on the coal industry by the Biden Administration.”

Wyoming has been the leader of coal mining in the country since 1986. It supplies approximately 40% of U.S. energy through its top 10 coal plants. The 15 operational coal mines in Wyoming provide employment and compensation to over 5,000 workers and their families. Wyoming also funds its K-12 education through royalties on mineral extraction and power production.

As these Biden-era restrictions are lifted on emission standards, Wyoming can take a sigh of relief as its education funding model won’t immediately need to be redrawn. Biden’s orders over his presidency continually added more regulations and restrictions to the coal industry that left many wondering if their way of life was going to become extinct.

This batch of Executive Orders also encourages the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER) to continue its endeavors to develop new technologies that focus on carbon capture and conversion. As the government lets academic and free market entrepreneurs lead, innovations will reduce the environmental and carbon impact of coal production. While some have a false assumption that less red tape equals outrageous CO2 emissions, it’s becoming apparent that it isn’t the case.

Governor Gordon supports less regulation but is also the Chair of the “Decarbonizing the West” initiative within the Western Governors’ Association. He puts his energy into carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies as well as natural sequestration processes to reduce the effects of carbon emissions. Governmental officials, consumers and producers are increasingly paying more attention to the effects of carbonization, and the best path to work on this issue is to let leading experts and businesspeople free to innovate without massive governmental interference.

Coal numbers have been consistently trending downwards in the U.S. In 2000, coal plants made up almost 50% of U.S energy, while today the statistic is much closer to 20%. The recent measures taken by Trump are incredibly timely because U.S. energy demand is rising due to data centers that are hungry for cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. The “Unleashing American Energy” agenda aims to meet these increasing energy demands, improve the local economy, and allow the government to generate revenue through these sectors if necessary.

Numerous coal plants around the country that were uncertain due to previous executive action will now have an opportunity to expand and renew their lease thanks to President Trump’s Executive Orders. State leaders such as Governor Gordon and Gianforte are demonstrating how officials can promote their state-specific legislation, work with the mining community, and partner with the federal government to unleash American energy.