Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Travis Deti said his industry is cautiously optimistic about what Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, could mean for the coal industry.
“We’re in wait-and-see-mode with all of this, but we’re optimistic,” Deti said.
Deti specifically cited coal production in the Powder River Basin having a potentially brighter future under Wright’s leadership. A new BLM rule enacted under President Joe Biden’s administration would end coal production in Wyoming's energy-rich Powder River Basin by 2041.
“With the ban on coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, hopefully they will roll some stuff back and bring a 180-degree turn to the way we’ve been going (things),” Deti said.
As the market for domestic thermal coal continues to shrink at an accelerated pace, the Powder River Basin has seen its coal production slashed to less than half of what it was a decade ago. Wyoming is on pace to produce less than 200 million tons of coal for the first time since 1992.
Wright, who works in fracking, was announced by Trump as his Secretary of Energy selection late last week.
Wright has consistently espoused a pro-fossil fuels agenda in media interviews and in a video posted on LinkedIn last year, declaring, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
“He has worked in nuclear, solar, geothermal, and oil and gas,” Trump wrote on X, referring to Wright. “Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American shale revolution that fueled American energy independence and transformed the global energy markets and geopolitics.”
It’s likely a safe bet that the Trump administration will be more favorable to Wyoming’s energy industry, and specifically coal, given its track record during Trump’s first term in office.
The Biden administration has drastically reduced the number of oil and gas leases it has offered and taken a negative outlook on coal, openly pushing for a scale down to the industry.
“They haven’t been shy about it,” Deti said. “They want to end coal in the U.S.”
But when it comes to shipping Wyoming coal overseas through export terminals and ports on the West Coast, Deti said the future is more unclear. He said individual states ultimately still get the final say on the installation of these facilities.
That’s what happened in 2017 when the state of Washington blocked a coal export port that would have allowed Wyoming to ship coal to Asian markets.
In 2018, the Trump administration proposed the idea of using West Coast military bases or other federal properties as transit points for shipments of U.S. coal and natural gas to Asia. Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had billed it at the time as a matter of national security in ensuring U.S. allies have access to affordable fuels.
Administration
Ryan McConnaughey, the vice president & director of communications of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said although Trump’s selection of North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior will be much more impactful on Wyoming’s energy industry, he said Wright will have an impact too.
“I’m sure he understands the need for a robust energy program,” McConnaughey said.
McConnaughey said one major impact is the Department of Energy’s management of federal grants to help the fossil fuels industry comply with federal regulations. He said the Biden administration has made accessing these grants very difficult.
“Our hope is that Secretary Wright will manage this much more efficiently and get these grants out to industry as intended,” McConnaughey said.
McConnaughey said fossil fuel research has also been sidelined under the Biden administration, activities that include laboratory studies of carbon capture and sequestration and making fossil fuel production more efficient.
“Our perspective is that by using federal dollars intended, it would be a huge advancement for our industry,” he said.
Western Connections
Wright is the chief executive of Liberty Energy, a fracking company based in Denver. Liberty Oilfield Services has offices in Gillette and Cheyenne.
“Being in Colorado, I’m sure he understands public land drilling issues,” McConnaughey said.
Wright has generally denied the existence of human-caused climate change and the existence of a climate crisis.
“Like his new boss, Donald Trump, Wright denies the threat of the scientifically proven climate crisis,” said Lori Lodes, the executive director of Climate Power, an environmental nonprofit group.
Wright spoke to Cowboy State Daily three times in 2022 and 2023.
He made headlines in 2021 for calling out The North Face’s refusal to provide apparel to another petroleum company.
“It’s so ridiculously hypocritical,” Wright told Cowboy State Daily. “I spent 15 years speaking on energy and climate change. I love this discussion and debate, and I think the public in general is just ignorant on it.”
After North Face turned its back on the other company, Liberty launched a campaign to thank North Face for being a customer of the oil and gas industry, which included YouTube videos that went viral and billboards in downtown Denver.
The outdoor apparel company released a statement in response to the controversy, explaining that it would harm their brand to be associated with oil and gas companies. It then boasted of a commitment to make all their apparel recyclable by 2030.
Wright also told Cowboy State Daily in 2023 that if a Colorado initiative to ban all oil and gas permitting in the state were to become law, it wouldn’t end demand for oil and gas. Instead, he said America’s energy needs would end up being imported from countries with far less stringent environmental and labor protections than in the U.S., which could mean more carbon dioxide emissions as a result of transporting oil and gas longer distances.
“It’s hurting people. It’s hurting the planet. They’re just wrong,” Wright said about those pushing for the ban.
Wright also said he’s a believer in developing other energy technologies but sees nothing yet that can replace oil and gas as a primary energy source.
Nuclear Impact
The core mission of the Energy Department is ensuring the safety of the country’s nuclear arsenal.
F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne is a strategic missile base and home to the Minutemen III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, which are a key element of the nation’s nuclear triad.
Tucker Fagan, the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Nuclear Section under President Ronald Reagan and the former Commander of F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, explained that this department is in charge of creating the nuclear bombs, not running them.
“There’s a symbiotic relationship between the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy builds the bomb,” he said.
Fagan said he expects no change under the Trump administration in regards to management of this program.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
