Montana energy is back and better than ever

OPINION:

Montana is famous for world-class fly fishing, and some of America’s greatest national parks. But Montana is also rich in natural resources. Our energy sector provides thousands of jobs and contributes millions to our economy, which is why bolstering Made-In-Montana energy has been a priority of mine. As I reflect on my tenure in the Senate, I believe we’ve made substantial progress in unleashing the full power of Montana energy.

I was a newly elected Senator during President Barack Obama’s second term, which was an era of climate hysteria. One of the first actions I took as a senator in 2015 was to hold an official Senate hearing at Crow Agency in Montana to push back against President Obama’s radical anti-coal rules.

Montana breathed a sigh of relief when President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and began to roll back many of the radical ideas that extreme environmentalists were pushing. We passed tax reform to bolster Montana energy jobs, struck down rules that harmed our coal mines and supported Montana hydropower dams. But when Joe Biden became president in 2020, Montana energy was once again under attack.

This was the time of the Green New Deal. President Biden wanted to force us all to drive electric vehicles and shut down Montana’s coal mines and power plants. Every day, Montana’s energy sector was blasted with frivolous litigation, bureaucratic red tape and burdensome regulations that hindered our critical industries. Montana has more recoverable coal than any other state in the nation. Despite this, Biden supercharged his attacks on coal, oil and gas and stalled projects throughout the state, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of hardworking Americans. He even pushed through a rule prohibiting all new coal development in Eastern Montana. By the end of Biden’s term, all of Montana’s large-scale active coal mines and the Colstrip Power Plant were on the brink of closure.

That’s why it was so important when President Trump took office once again in 2025, and we acted swiftly to unwind the Biden administration’s radical anti-energy agenda.

The first victory was saving the Bull Mountains Mine. On Independence Day 2025, President Trump signed the Working Families Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, which included my provision to keep the Bull Mountains Mine up and running. This was a huge win and saved over 250 mining jobs. I visited the mine shortly after this victory and met the miners whose jobs we had saved — many of them were the multi-generational coal miners. They work hard, support their families and are true examples of the American spirit.

The Working Family Tax Cuts Act also included my bill to restart federal oil and gas leasing in Montana, which had all but ceased under President Biden. My bill, the Supporting Made-In-America Energy Act, ensures that the Bureau of Land Management holds quarterly oil and gas lease sales in Montana, as well as many other states. This will keep royalties, jobs and taxes growing in our rural communities long into the future.

A few months later, we had another important victory, when President Trump signed my bill repealing Biden’s disastrous Miles City Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA), which unlocked mining in Montana’s coal-rich Powder River Basin. The Powder River Basin is America’s largest coal reserve and is critical for our energy independence. In caving to environmental hysteria, the Biden administration ignored the local community and locked up two million acres of land, which would have cost Montana more than $4 billion in future revenue. Reversing this wrongheaded policy was a huge win, not just for Montana’s jobs and economy, but for our nation’s energy security as a whole.

As my time serving in the U.S. Senate draws to a close, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have fought together with President Trump, Gov. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Tim Sheehy, Rep. Ryan Zinke, and Rep. Troy Downing on behalf of the Treasure State. Montana is the best state in the nation, and we are paving the way for a bright future — a future that will create hundreds of jobs and ensure our nation remains the global leader in energy production.

• A fifth-generation Montanan, Sen. Steve Daines serves as the senior U.S. Senator from Montana. He’s a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, and Indian Affairs.