‘Drill Baby, Drill’ - What a second Trump term means for oil & gas in Wyoming

by Wyoming Liberty Group

Whatever your politics, President Trump's triumphant return to the White House is being hailed by a wide swath of Wyomingites, especially those in oil and gas, a vital sector of our economy, not to mention our history, our identity and, as it turns out, our future.

Indeed, in the moments after Trump clinched his historic second term in office, he was quick to give a reassuring nod to American oil and gas. He referred to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who would soon become his cabinet nominee for secretary of health and human services, when Trump said, "I just said, but Bobby, leave the oil to me." He added, "We have more liquid gold than any country in the world. We have more than Saudi Arabia. We have more than Russia. Bobby, stay away from the liquid gold. Other than that, have a good time, Bobby."

When he mentioned liquid gold, he was alluding to crude oil, of course. This isn't really open to interpretation as Trump has repeatedly promised, as a campaign slogan, that his presidency would mean: "Drill baby, drill."

This naturally warms the hearts of many in the energy sector in Wyoming, even if it's unclear what specific policies Trump might implement when he retakes office. We know this so far, though: He has already tapped Doug Burgum to lead a new National Energy Council—dubbed the energy czar. In making the announcement, Trump talked about the goal of broadening various kinds of energy, which includes cutting consumer costs.

In addition, the president-elect nominated Chris Wright, the head of a Colorado fracking services company, to lead the Energy Department. And Wright has been a big backer of oil and gas, advocating for fossil fuels as an important part of our future.

These moves come after several discouraging years under the Biden administration, which, among other things, pushed alternative sources of renewable energies, while also moving towards new nuclear sources of energy.

This is not to say there isn't a place for options other than oil and gas. But they are not the panacea to all of our nation's energy problems.

Let's take renewable energy first. Yes, there is a place for it. But it isn't always reliable. Solar energy is, just as it suggests, dependent on sunlight, which isn't always around. And solar energy can be expensive to store, while solar farms require a vast amount of space. The same holds true for other forms of renewable energy, such as energy derived from wind. This form of renewable energy also takes up a tremendous amount of space and it can be equally fickle, depending on the vicissitudes of available wind, which isn't always there when you need it.

Let's now turn to that other form of energy that the Biden administration has been pushing as an alternative to our oil and gas industry: nuclear energy. There's been a lot of chatter in Wyoming about this in recent months—not to mention over the past several years.

You've likely heard advocates for nuclear energy talk about what a financial windfall it would be for Wyoming if we brought in more nuclear projects. While those numbers need to be scrutinized more carefully to really understand whether they'd ever materialize, there are certain facts about nuclear energy that we know for sure.

For one, it's highly radioactive, which means that waste from nuclear energy remains toxic for tens of thousands of years. That's not a typo: Tens of thousands of years. How in the world do we protect against the hazards over such an extended time horizon?

Even more, to what extent is a future in nuclear energy binding us to a future that represents a significant hazard to human health, and—excuse the expression—to what extent does our health safety trump the benefits of nuclear energy?

There are, of course, other real concerns about nuclear energy. But you get the point.

The point also is that Trump's return to the presidency means that he intends to increase the production of fossil fuels, which is a good thing for Wyoming's long-standing industry. He recently said, "Starting on Day 1, I will approve new drilling, new pipelines, new refiners, new power plants, new reactors, and we will slash the red tape." While it's too early to know how Trump's administration will promote oil and gas, these are welcome words for many in Wyoming.