Utah is booming, driven by innovations in industries like AI, advanced manufacturing, and mining. As our economy expands, so does our need for abundant, affordable power. If Utah steps up now, we can secure our — and America’s — energy future. If we don’t, we risk hampering our growth and letting adversaries like China dominate the next era of energy, industry and geopolitical competition.
That’s why today, dozens of business executives, lawmakers and young leaders from across our state are launching Unleash Utah, a coalition committed to helping make Utah the nation’s leader in energy and resource development while smartly stewarding the environment.
Utah has always been a land of pioneers setting out to forge an unrivaled future — and today is no different. Governor Spencer Cox launched Operation Gigawatt to double Utah’s energy production in 10 years. Senate President Stuart Adams aimed to triple it by 2050. Our state is already a leader in geothermal energy, and we are poised to be a leader in nuclear as well.
We also have what other states lack: the critical minerals needed to power the 21st-century economy. We need those resources now more than ever. Right now, China dominates 85% of global critical mineral mining capacity and controls most of the world’s supply of strategic minerals. From batteries to semiconductors to military aircraft engines, the energy and technologies of the future depend on materials that China controls. China’s near-monopoly over critical minerals is exacerbated by its dominance in global manufacturing, achieved through trade abuses and a high-polluting industrial base that undercuts American producers and poisons our environment. All of this threatens American national security.
Utah has the answer. Not only are we leading on energy, but our state is also home to 40 of the 50 minerals which the Department of the Interior has listed as “critical” to the nation. While Utah stands ready to sustainably develop many of these resources, Chinese supply chain manipulation and federal regulatory delays make this process far more challenging than it ought to be.
Utahns also care deeply about developing our resources the right way. People here live by a quiet but serious ethic of caring for our air, water and land. What’s more, our leaders stand boldly at the forefront advancing this commitment on the national stage; for instance, Sen. John Curtis launched the Conservative Climate Caucus in the U.S. House that quickly became the second largest caucus in the House GOP with over 80 members of Congress.
For all these reasons, Utah is built for this moment of not only high-stakes competition, but also great opportunity.
Our coalition is inspired by the frontier spirit that built this state — bold, fast-moving and relentlessly optimistic. We believe in innovation over bureaucracy, open exchange over red tape, and solutions that rise from the ground up, not ones handed down from Washington. Utahns don’t sit back and wait. We roll up our sleeves, figure it out and get to work.
We’re also focused on results, advancing solutions that help Utah lead in energy, manufacturing and environmental stewardship. That means supporting the responsible development of geothermal, nuclear and critical minerals; modernizing outdated regulations; taking on foreign adversaries for their pollution and trade practices that undercut us; and scaling market-driven solutions to protect our natural resources and our environment.
Utah was founded as a place where pioneers turned challenge into opportunity and vision into action. That same spirit is alive today. With Unleash Utah, we’re answering the call once more — not just for Utah, but for the country that needs us now.