Energy independence

And it disarms that belief that it's a threat to what they're doing because it actually is a solution to a problem that they've been living with.

What does energy independence mean for your people?

I mean, it really goes back to autonomy.

You know, tribes have to think like nations, you know, just like countries think about their import export that creates a dependency.

And so energy independence and autonomy is really about having access to the resources and the resources that you want to utilize, not just ones that you're forced to, because that's the only option.

And so that's how we really started looking at the problem was the technology exists, the workers are out there, there's supply chain that we can access, But how do we pull all those ingredients together to build a marketplace? And the one missing element was finance.

So you started at Shonto Energy and 200 homes later, you started Navajo Power to build a utility scale.

Still doing the same things we've been doing, but do a little tweak to be more impactful for the future of Texas and to maybe address some of the issues.

So the Texas engine, fuel-fed and fortified, we've got five pillars, but it's literally about getting energy independence.

We've got an RFI out right now about... getting dispatchable energy onto the grid.

We're talking, of course, oil and gas-based energy production, but also maybe nuclear, salt or small, geothermal resurgence.

And that's part of the whole Texas engine.

We want our energy produced here.

We want complete energy independence.

We're close, but we're not quite there.

Right? That's what we need every day.

So I'm thinking energy independence means we produce more than 20 million barrels a day.

And everything we need is right here.

Now, that was my assumption.

And you know when you make assumptions, what happens, children? You make a, well, that's not what energy independence means.

It means that you have a surplus you export.

You export more than you import.

He said, Tom, I've worked at the Motiva and Valero plants in Port Arthur.

No musing, no clotting, no Gemini-ing.

If I just asked you, out of your cold and beautiful brain, to tell me what does energy independence mean, what would you tell me that that means? What do you think that means? Hmm? Come on, students.

What do you think it means when I say America is energy independent? What do you think that means? Don't make me call on you.

Somebody here in the class today, you tell me what do you think it means when we say that America is energy independent? What do you think that means? Tell me what you think it means.

Amen? Amen.

We don't need nobody.

Amen? Energy independence.

We got more oil than anybody on planet Earth.

We're the most energy-rich country.

You remember when we were kids, the idea of energy independence was science fiction.

Now it is science fact, but they're trying to keep it in the ground.

Let me give you my favorite statistic, which blows my mind.

They actually import.

So the whole question about energy independence kind of falls in the water-

Yeah

... because it already seems like we'll still need to import crude from the Gulf region.

'Cause one, it talk ...

it, it had ...

it directly addresses a big concern we had, like, a couple of months ago on energy independence, but really more right now ...

Okay, at base it's an energy upgrade.

And in some cases, get the ball rolling on, on some of those policies that we had previously put in place that were going to have longer term, um, um, uh, cost savings for people.

But importantly, as we see how much the global stage can impact and be a, a source of volatility for our costs here at home, as an American, we should all want much greater energy independence, and we should want it to be affordable and good for our communities.

And when you say affordable and, you know, fast to market, right? When you're actually paying attention to the numbers, that means clean energy, and that's where you can- [audience applauding]

Right.