What Energy Dominance Means to Us.
By John P. Dottson
CEO, Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas
Change can be scary. No one knows that better than those of us who summoned the courage to become modern pioneers in Western oil and gas, hoarding the war chest of fossil fuel that we know exists beneath our mountains and streams for the day when a leader emerged who would declare that “energy is dominant in America.” That day has finally arrived. But we only got here because folks like Scott Pruitt, Jack Gerard, Rex Tillerson, Kathleen Sgamma and the countless others who are now working hand-in-hand with the administration to make energy dominant in America.
They bravely held press calls and testified at hostile hearings, turning the other cheek when ignorant, hysterical mobs repeatedly attacked us as “greedy” or “heartless” or “anti-environment.” And they smiled courageously through eight years of President Obama — a President known for his naïve and borderline-disturbing obsession with every single tree and hiking trail and blade of grass a drilling rig might possibly disturb, regardless of the consequences on the economy.
Now that the cloud has lifted and the energy domination revolution is upon us, it’s time for America to cast aside its fears. That’s why I am answering our President’s call for energy dominance and seizing the promise of endless prosperity and power. Across the board, our allies in the Trump administration and Congress are correcting the playing field on our public lands, where for too long the focus has been on protecting critters and pretty places, so the sun will never set on American oil and gas again.
There is much reason to be hopeful. Under the Trump administration, energy dominance means we’ll be able to lease any public lands and waters for drilling and fracking, without burdensome clean air and water regulations, needless restrictions for communities and parks, and other absurd red tape that has stood in our way for decades. It means we’ll be able to add thousands and thousands of drilling permits to our stockpile of thousands and thousands of drilling permits. And it means the oil and gas industry — companies like mine that know how and where to drill best — will set the agenda for America’s public lands, not some wildlife biologist or park ranger or sandal-wearing kayaker.
Instead of trying to put longstanding American industries out of business with so-called “21stcentury” energy sources like wind and solar that are only viable because they’re propped up by environmental activists, the Trump administration is investing in the federal offices that can accelerate oil and gas leasing, and slashing waste at offices that deal with ideological issues like “green” energy, conservation, and wildlife.
It is once again “morning in America,” as a new era of energy dominance has dawned over our great nation. Many of us are seizing the opportunity to make a permanent impact on the West, and launching new enterprises like Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas.
I am humbled by the knowledge that it is not one man alone, but a coalition of hundreds of men and women, and not Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas’ projected millions in profits alone, but our collective profits, that will drive America’s future of dominance. Again, we know change is scary. But when Americans find a way to ignore their fears and hesitations, and remember what makes this nation great, there is nothing that can stop us from becoming the energy dominant global superpower that we are destined to be.
