Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven has expressed his support following the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy. Hoeven, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, played a role in introducing Wright during his nomination hearing and helped push his nomination through the committee and full Senate. During the confirmation process, Hoeven secured commitments from Wright to prioritize key issues for North Dakota, including advancing new technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), with particular focus on Project Tundra.

"Chris Wright is another great addition to the Trump administration, bringing a wealth of knowledge and real-world experience to the job of Energy Secretary," said Hoeven. "He knows what it takes to develop new technologies and make them commercially-viable. In North Dakota, we’ve seen firsthand his success in the private sector with the growth in the Bakken. We look forward to working with him in his new role to build upon that record of innovation and unleash America’s energy potential, including through North Dakota’s leadership in CCUS technologies."

Hoeven has been active over the past 15 years in promoting North Dakota's leadership in CCUS technology development. His efforts have focused on ensuring legal, tax, and regulatory frameworks are established to support CCUS advancements. This includes making North Dakota the first state granted regulatory primacy for Class VI wells for safe CO2 storage below ground.

Additionally, Hoeven has been instrumental in securing a demonstration grant from the Department of Energy for Project Tundra. This project aims to enable the Milton R. Young power plant to capture and store four million metric tons of CO2 annually. Furthermore, he has supported Basin's Dakota Gasification synfuels plant which captures up to 2.25 million metric tons of CO2 per year.