There is an energy crisis brewing in America.
As I’ve said repeatedly, we will need to have a more robust energy infrastructure in place to accommodate the massive growth of data centers needed to beat China in the race to artificial superintelligence (ASI.)
That’s a primary reason behind one of Donald Trump’s first moves when he returned to office.
Trump did something no president had ever done before…
He declared a “national energy emergency.”
The executive order he signed warns that: “The energy and critical minerals (“energy”) identification, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, and generation capacity of the United States are all far too inadequate to meet our Nation’s needs.”
And it invoked the National Emergencies Act to give his administration the freedom to act on this crisis as they see fit.
To be clear, even Jimmy Carter didn’t do anything this bold during the energy crisis of the 1970s, and our country’s energy situation seems to be in far better shape these days.
The U.S. is still a net exporter of fossil fuels, and we produce more oil and gas than any other country in the world.
But Trump didn’t declare an energy emergency because of our production today.
He did it to prepare for the future.
Naturally, the response to Trump’s executive order was mixed.
Climate change activists were up in arms about it.
Energy executives were initially excited about it, although that excitement has been tempered recently by the prospect of tariffs and the resulting turmoil in the financial markets.
But the person who is probably the most excited by this executive order is someone in the Trump administration who you rarely hear about.
While Elon Musk is getting all the attention for his work with DOGE, this person might be equally important to Trump’s agenda.
In fact, he’s probably the most important man in energy.
His name is Chris Wright.
The Most Interesting Man in the Trump Administration
Chris Wright is a former CEO of Liberty Energy, and the current U.S. Secretary of Energy.
Source: Wikimedia commons
He spent decades shaping the energy industry from the inside, and now his views and decisions could have a big impact on the entire country’s energy future.
What are his views?
Wright is known for his strong support of fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, and his skepticism about relying too much on wind and solar power.
But that doesn’t mean he’s a climate denier. In a speech he gave in Houston on Monday, Wright said: “I’m a climate realist.”
He’s an outdoor enthusiast from Denver and is also a big supporter of the Clean Air Act of 1970. He says that nitrous oxide, mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, ground level ozone and carbon monoxide should be considered pollutants.
But while he acknowledges that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and that the planet is warming, he argues that the benefits of using more energy far outweigh the downsides.
As Wright told Forbes: “To make the world a better place, to solve the global problems, you need more reliable, affordable, secure energy.”
And he isn’t sold on wind and solar as the best path forward.
Wright points out that these technologies require large amounts of land and rely on battery storage, which depends on materials like cobalt and lithium mined under poor working conditions in countries like Congo and China.
Instead, he sees nuclear power as a promising alternative. But his main focus is on what lies below our feet.
What’s the Big Fracking Deal?
Wright’s company, Liberty Energy, grew into a powerhouse in the oil and gas industry by pioneering advanced fracking technologies.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, is a process that extracts oil and natural gas from deep underground rock formations.
It works by injecting a high-pressure mixture of mostly water and sand into rock layers, creating tiny fractures that release trapped oil and gas.
Wright was instrumental in advancing this technology by developing “microseismic fracture mapping,” which helps geologists understand how oil and gas flow through rock formations.
These innovations made fracking more efficient and widely used, playing a key role in the U.S. shale boom.
And after Liberty acquired Schlumberger’s North American fracking business in 2020, it became one of the biggest players in the field.
So we know fracking is important to Wright. But so are next-generation energy solutions.
That’s why I’m paying close attention to the startups that Wright has invested in.
These include a small-scale nuclear reactor firm, and a geothermal drilling company called Fervo Energy.
We’ve already talked about how nuclear power could rapidly expand in the U.S. over the next decade.
And just this morning news broke that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Facebook (NASDAQ: META) pledged to support efforts that could at least triple nuclear energy worldwide by 2050.
But when it comes to U.S. energy policy, I’m especially excited about the future of geothermal.
Trump recently said: “We will be a rich nation again and it is the liquid gold under our feet that will help us do it.”
I think a lot of people assumed he was talking about drilling for oil.
But what if he meant that we are actually going to be drilling for green energy?
Fracking has unlocked vast amounts of energy that were previously inaccessible, transforming the industry and making the U.S. one of the world’s top energy producers.
And the next revolution in fracking could come from geothermal.
Fervo Energy uses fracking techniques to extract geothermal energy from hot rocks deep underground.
They drill deep wells, inject water to absorb heat from the rocks, and use the resulting steam to generate electricity.
Unlike oil fracking, geothermal doesn’t release fossil fuels or require harmful chemicals. It also operates in a closed-loop system, recycling water to minimize waste.
This method could provide clean, 24/7 power like nuclear energy but without waste.
Geothermal fracking is also considered more sustainable since it provides renewable energy without depleting resources or causing pollution.
The company is backed by major investors like Bill Gates and Google, and it’s currently developing a large geothermal project in Utah.
Fervo’s goal is to generate 2,000 megawatts of power by 2030, enough for 2 million homes.
Though initial costs are high, the company hopes to follow the cost-reduction trend seen in solar energy.
Could Fervo be at the forefront of the next energy boom?
Here’s My Take
Fervo’s drilling efficiency has already improved, cutting costs and time dramatically.
And experts predict geothermal could provide 12% of U.S. electricity by 2050.
Wright’s new role at the Department of Energy will put him in the middle of the country’s ongoing debate about how to balance economic growth, energy security and environmental concerns.
We know he’s a proponent of fracking. However, he has also been critical of government subsidies for clean energy, arguing that if a technology is truly viable, it should succeed on its own.
And for now, geothermal projects rely on federal subsidies.
But to fulfill our massive energy needs, I still believe this could be the most promising path forward for our country in the following decades.
And it could be a massive opportunity for investors.
Regards,
Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing
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