Energy trade group president optimistic about Trump’s policies for the sector

[Jack Aylmer]

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP THIS WEEK DECLARED A NATIONAL ENERGY EMERGENCY.  

DURING HIS SPEECH AT THE ANNUAL WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM MEETING IN DAVOS THURSDAY, HE DISCUSSED WHY HE DID IT.

“I declared a National Energy emergency, and it’s so important, national energy emergency to unlock the liquid gold under our feet and paved the way for rapid approvals of new energy infrastructure.”

THAT SENTIMENT IS SHARED BY THE PRESIDENT OF A NATIONAL ENERGY TRADE GROUP, REPRESENTING OVER 650,000 AMERICAN WORKERS IN THIS SECTOR.

TIM TARPLEY OF THE ENERGY WORKFORCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL BELIEVES EXPEDITED PERMITTING WILL BE REQUIRED FOR A MAJOR BUILD OUT OF U.S. POWER INFRASTRUCTURE-

NEEDED TO MEET RISING DEMAND IN THE COMING YEARS-

AND FOSSIL FUELS WILL PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THAT.

“It’s going to require a significant amount of permitting, and right now it is not, we’re not getting those permits fast enough, so it is scaring off investors. But I just think natural gas can be a big part of the grid in the coming, you know, 20 or 30 years. So we should be really focused on that.”

TARPLEY TOLD US THE U.S. COULD SEE ENERGY DEMAND JUMP 50 PERCENT BY 2050.

TO MEET THESE RISING ELECTRICITY NEEDS-

LARGELY DRIVEN BY DATA CENTERS POWERING AI AND CRYPTO OPERATIONS-

TARPLEY SAYS A CORRESPONDING 50 PERCENT INCREASE IN AMERICAN POWER INFRASTRUCTURE IS LIKELY TO BE REQUIRED. 

“The most estimates that we see is about a 50% increase in the next 30 years … It’s a significant build out, and we don’t have the permitting situation in place to really support that. That’s what they’re getting at with, with that national emergency declaration is they’re saying, ‘look, we have a lot of work to do, and the last thing we need to do is have our own government regulations getting in the way of that.’”

TARPLEY SAYS THE ENERGY SECTOR IS WELCOMING TRUMP’S EMERGENCY DECLARATION-

AND IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT OIL AND GAS CONTRIBUTING MORE TO POWERING THE U.S. THAN IT DID UNDER THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION.

“Our industry is looking very positive at this new administration and is looking forward to a fresh start. There were a lot of actions taken by the Biden administration that seemed to target oil and gas, and I would argue, unfairly, target oil and gas. To take out that regulatory uncertainty that, that was there during the Biden administration in addition to the expedition of permitting that was in the other executive order. We think both of those combined will be a positive thing for the energy industry in the U.S.”

WITH POWER DEMANDS ON THE RISE AND AN ADMINISTRATION IN PLACE WITH A MORE FAVORABLE OUTLOOK ON FOSSIL FUELS-

TARPLEY EXPRESSED CONFIDENCE ABOUT THE ENERGY SECTOR’S FUTURE.

“We think demand is, in the long term, going to increase. So we’re very bullish on on the industry. I’m, I’m personally very bullish on gas. I think we’re going to continue to see a growth.”

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