Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum emphasizes the West's role in energy and mining.
- Utah leads in nuclear energy and critical minerals, says Gov. Spencer Cox.
- AI demands and trade wars highlight the need for domestic energy solutions.
SANTA FE, N.M. — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the West must spearhead solutions to the "existential threat" facing the nation.
It's not climate change, which will be solved "in the next decade or two by the innovation that will be provided," Burgum said June 23 at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association.
It's supplying the energy and critical minerals necessary to make those innovations possible, he said.
As artificial intelligence strains energy grids and trade wars expose the country's reliance on China for rare earth materials, Utah and its neighbors appear the best positioned to fill the gap, according to Burgum.
"Where are most of the critical minerals in this country, and the rare earth minerals? Most of them are in the West," Burgum said. "The West remains a complete powerhouse of innovation, productivity and possibility."
The second Trump administration has issued several executive orders to speed up and expand nuclear energy production and critical mineral extraction in the U.S.
But it will take a region experienced with innovating its way out of scarcity to make this "abundance" agenda a reality, Burgum said.
Utah leads on nuclear, critical minerals
This message is not new to Utah, according to Gov. Spencer Cox, who was also at the meeting in Sante Fe, New Mexico, along with governors from Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and Wyoming.
In 2023, Utah was ranked as the No. 1 place in the world by the Fraser Institute for mining investment because of its regulatory approach and natural resources.
The most recent Utah geological survey shows the state possesses 40 out of the 50 critical minerals considered essential for the national economy and defense.
"Utah has a much more diverse mineral endowment than even most other Western states," said Brian Somers, the president of the Utah Mining Association.
Over the past few years, the state has also done more than any other to create a policy environment for nuclear energy, according to Christine Czizmadia, the senior director of state government affairs at the Nuclear Energy Institute.
"Utah out of all those states is doing the most," Czizmadia said. "Cox is trying to create an ecosystem for nuclear in Utah; no other state has done as much for nuclear this fast."
This includes entering into a partnership with Idaho and Wyoming to collaborate on nuclear energy opportunities, creating a nuclear energy consortium to streamline nuclear policy and investing $8 million in site identification for reactors.
The Beehive State is "absolutely" at the forefront of the Trump administration's push to increase energy and mining supply, "and it always has been," Cox said.
"We know we have more critical minerals than any other state," Cox said. "And of course, on the nuclear energy side, Utah is the leader right now in the country."
Is energy dominance cleaner?
Utah's potential in energy and mining does not have to come at the expense of environmental or community concerns, Burgum suggested.
Trump's "made in America" vision will actually result in a cleaner and cheaper country, he said.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, agreed with the Republican Cabinet secretary that the best thing the West could do for the environment — and its economy — would be to produce more energy, including with fossil fuels.
"If we were using the Western states' (liquefied natural gas) around the world, we can reduce those carbon footprints by 40%, and we're ready to do it now," Grisham said.
Burgum, a former tech executive and two-term governor of North Dakota, said that states can no longer think in terms of an energy transition, away from fossil fuels like coal and toward renewables like wind and solar.
They have to think in terms of "energy addition."
Burgum told the room of lobbyists, journalists and industry experts that this position has nothing to do with ideology or climate change.
"It's just about physics," Burgum said.
AI data centers demand so much power that states cannot rely on "intermittent" energy sources that stop contributing to the grid when the sun goes down or the wind stops.
And the states that get it right will become "magnets for capital" because today's automized factories take more energy than ever before, he said.
"If you're going to re-shore your manufacturing back in the United States, you're not going to go to a state that's got 30 or 40% higher electric costs and protest every time someone tries to build an LNG pipeline," Burgum said.
Recently Utah has received interest from multiple AI data centers and "every nuclear company in the world," according to Cox.
The governor said the Trump administration's focus on innovation, and its focus on states like Utah in the West, is a great sign for what's to come — and a recognition of where Utah has been heading for years.
"We've been preaching this for years, now, finally the rest of the country is starting to listen," Cox said.
