An Innovation Strategy to Win the Global Energy Race (The Washington Times)

This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Times on April 21, 2026. Click here to read the entire piece.

America’s energy landscape is undergoing a major transformation. Demand is rising from data centers, advanced manufacturing and new domestic industrial activity. At the same time, global competition and geopolitical pressures are intensifying. Countries like China are investing across the full energy and technology landscape, from early-stage research through large-scale deployment, and doing so with a coordinated national strategy. In fact, recent analyses show that China has surpassed the U.S. in total R&D spend.

To compete, the United States will need a more integrated approach to innovation policy. The 119th Congress has an opportunity to strengthen energy and technology leadership by structuring federal policy to treat basic research and applied energy programs as parts of the same innovation system.

De-risking scientific discovery helps keep American inventors ahead, while de-risking commercialization ensures U.S. companies can lead in global markets. Without a strategy that connects these stages, the U.S. risks losing its innovation advantage.

Congress can begin addressing this gap by providing updated guidance and support for key federal research agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Fundamental research programs, particularly within DOE’s Office of Science the largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences are essential to maintaining leadership in areas like quantum, artificial intelligence and advanced computing. These investments enable long-term work that is unlikely to be funded by the private sector and provide access to national laboratory infrastructure that no single company could replicate.

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Drilling for Dominance: Leveraging American Innovation for Enhanced Geothermal (The Ripon Society)

This op-ed was originally published by The Ripon Society on April 20, 2026. Click here to read the entire piece.

A year into the second Trump administration, energy dominance – global leadership and security through abundant, innovative American energy – has gone from a mantra to a guiding principle. Few technologies are better positioned than geothermal power to deliver on this promise in an era of rising energy demand driven by AI and resurgent American manufacturing.

Clean, reliable, baseload geothermal power has quickly become a favored energy technology on both sides of the aisle. Once limited to rare, naturally occurring reservoirs of hot water or steam, next-generation technologies are dramatically expanding where this resource can be developed by innovative companies. Geothermal has made allies across the spectrum, gaining bipartisan political support in Congress and investment interest from venture capital, big tech and oil majors.

The technology’s rapid maturation reflects cutting-edge American innovation, leveraging technology pioneered during the shale revolution and applying it to previously inaccessible geothermal resources. By adapting techniques like horizontal drilling and hydraulic stimulation, enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) engineer a reservoir from scratch. Companies like Fervo Energy have demonstrated how quickly the technology is advancing, having reduced drilling costs by 70 percent since its first wells in 2023.

But in an era of intense partisanship in Washington, the political progress may be even more notable as geothermal’s attributes meet energy priorities across the aisle. Conservatives see a resource that leverages American drilling expertise and provides reliable power. Meanwhile, progressives and climate hawks value its zero-carbon benefits. This convergence of interests has yielded concrete policy outcomes. In 2022, geothermal was included in the clean electricity tax credits enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) signed by President Biden; in 2025, Republicans preserved geothermal’s eligibility for those same credits in President Trump’s signature Working Families Tax Cuts. The tax policy certainty demonstrated by major bills from both political parties reflects enduring bipartisan support for geothermal. That momentum continues today, as multiple bipartisan geothermal permitting bills have passed through House committees, with additional legislative action expected later this year.

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An American Strategy for Global Clean Energy Leadership (The Ripon Society)

This op-ed was originally published by The Ripon Society on April 20, 2026. Click here to read the entire piece.

Energy security is no longer just about how much energy a nation produces at home. While America has rightly focused on deploying energy systems domestically, competitors like China and Russia are working to manipulate and corner global energy markets to their advantage.  The world needs more energy to power the industries of the future, and the nation that builds the next generation of energy technologies, finances the infrastructure and secures the supply chains will win in those global markets and wield long-term strategic leverage.

The race for energy dominance has never been more vital than it is today, and America’s strategy to compete globally must meet this moment.

The scale of the opportunity is enormous. In 2025, worldwide energy investment reached roughly $3.3 trillion, including about $2.2 trillion for clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Over the rest of this decade, the world will need to add thousands of gigawatts of new power capacity driven by the expansion of AI, increasing electrification of economies and new industrial production at home and abroad. However, recent ClearPath analysis found that since 2015, China has outpaced the United States nearly ten-to-one in financing global energy projects, establishing itself as the primary partner to key nations.

Strategic clean energy systems will be among the world’s biggest growth markets. The question is whether the U.S. will be the leading solutions provider for that market or continue to watch China dominate.

China’s rise in this market is the result of a multi-decade strategy including massive state subsidies, unfair trading practices, intellectual property theft, poor environmental standards and a relentless focus on scale. China’s share of global manufacturing in six clean energy technologies – solar PV, wind, electric vehicles, batteries, electrolyzers and heat pumps – is around 70 percent. Additionally, China is the top producer of 20 critical minerals and commands a 70 percent market share of global refining capacity for strategic minerals that underpin modern energy technologies.

This competition is also expanding into technologies where the U.S. has an opportunity to seize the lead, if we move with urgency. Nuclear energy is a clear example. Today, China has 35 of the world’s 72 nuclear reactors under construction. Over the past decade, most new reactor construction starts globally have relied on Chinese or Russian designs. For its part, Russia has spent years building influence through reactor exports and long-term nuclear partnerships. That should be a wake-up call. Countries are not just choosing technologies. They are choosing suppliers, financing partners and strategic relationships that can last for generations.

The answer for the U.S. is not to copy or out-subsidize China and Russia. Instead, we should play to our uniquely American strengths and do it with much greater focus. The U.S. still has the best innovation ecosystem in the world. We have deep capital markets, world-class research institutions, top engineering talent and a private sector that can move faster and adapt better than any centrally planned economy. We also have something China does not: a network of allies and partners that want American energy.

That’s why the right strategy for American energy dominance is simple: innovate fast, build here and sell globally.

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Republicans Have the Playbook for Energy Prices (The Hill)

This op-ed was originally published by The Hill on February 27, 2026. Click here to read the entire piece.

Congress has entered 2026 on the back of some big wins. Enacting the Working Families Tax Cuts, passing permitting modernization through the House, and advancing legislation to strengthen our electrical grid has created a clear playbook to lower energy costs and further American energy dominance. 

As the representative of Colorado’s 8th District — home to one of the highest energy-producing counties in the U.S. — Congressman Evans is proud to be one of the first freshmen in 14 years placed on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This seat has given him the opportunity to both introduce and advocate for commonsense policies that will continue to make energy a winning issue for Republicans in 2026.

In the Working Families Tax Cuts, Republicans passed tax incentives that allow innovators to do what they do best — develop cutting-edge technologies that provide reliable clean power to millions. In the Trump administration’s executive orders, new nuclear energy is surging forward, with the potential to power millions of homes and a new wave of American manufacturing with safe, affordable and reliable energy.

Over the last year, gas prices have fallen to their lowest point since 2021, providing tangible relief to everyday Americans. The same thing can happen for energy prices. The Republican trifecta in Washington has a chance to keep building on conservative energy wins and scale new generation, invest in modern infrastructure to build new energy projects, and grow domestic industry and supply chains.

Supporting the development and deployment of all types of energy — from advanced nuclear and enhanced geothermal to solar, wind, storage, and natural gas with carbon capture — is a good first step toward providing safe, reliable and affordable energy. Congress has an opportunity to help take new, innovative technologies from lab to market. Leveraging public-private partnerships with the National Labs, including the National Lab of the Rockies, through Rep. Evans’ latest bipartisan legislation; the Energy Threat Analysis Center Act, along with the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing tool, present additional opportunities to build breakthrough technologies here in America.

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Put American Jobs First and Take U.S. Energy Global (The National Interest)

This op-ed was originally published by The National Interest on January 30, 2026. Click here to read the entire piece.

To outcompete China in global energy markets, the United States must modernize export finance to back American workers, innovation, and energy leadership abroad.

If America does not lead the future of energy technologies, China will. Think about financing major energy and infrastructure projects in emerging markets. This is an enormous challenge for American firms, and today, China fills that gap. Recent ClearPath analysis finds that since 2015, China has financed at least $446 billion in global energy infrastructure and exports, nearly 10 times what the United States has invested. How do they do it? They cheat. China offers massive subsidies, and its banks often rely on predatory lending practices that discourage market competition and disadvantage American firms. 

Thankfully, the Trump administration has put energy security firmly at the center of US foreign policy, ranging from efforts to promote American nuclear technologies abroad to strengthening partnerships to secure our critical mineral supply chains. The key to energy dominance is simple: innovate here, build here, and sell everywhere. To deliver, Washington must unleash private sector innovation and sharpen America’s competitive edge. Not by trying to match subsidies from the likes of China, but by using targeted financing tools to de-risk projects, attract private capital, and create favorable market conditions. The United States can empower its innovators and manufacturers to lead in global markets and support American jobs.

This was clearly articulated by the leadership of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) as its new Chairman, John Jovanovic, is organizing the Bank around four strategic priorities: 1) putting American jobs first, 2) advancing US energy dominance, 3) ensuring supply chain security, and 4) clearing a path for industries of the future. These are pragmatic and yet inspiring goals that the American public can rally behind to win the global energy markets race. As Chairman Jovanovic put it, “Time is our biggest enemy and every day we come to work with a sense of urgency to support American workers, manufacturers and our nation’s economic security.”

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U.S. agriculture built the 20th century. Innovation will decide the 21st. (Agri-Pulse)

This op-ed was originally published by Agri-Pulse on December 2, 2025. Click here to read the entire piece.

Some of the world’s greatest accomplishments came from American farmers.

In 1793, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, dramatically increasing cotton production and fueling economic growth. In 1837, John Deere invented the steel plow, allowing farmers to cut through soil more efficiently. In the 1940s, Norman Borlaug developed methods to increase crop yields and help feed the world. 

But for the past two decades, America’s research and development has stalled. China has more than doubled our investments in agriculture R&D. India and Brazil are also on pace to pull ahead of the U.S. The world will need approximately 50% more food by 2050 to support a growing global population. To meet this demand, America’s manufacturers and farmers will have no choice but to innovate. At the same time, our government leaders must commit to supporting these innovations.

Under President Donald Trump’s first term, we made significant progress. The 2018 Farm Bill, which improved farmer and rancher access to Environmental Quality  Incentives Program grants, established the Agriculture Advanced Research and Development Authority, or AgARDA, a new research program to replicate the success of the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and reauthorized the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a successful public-private partnership. The following year, Trump signed Executive Order 13874–Modernizing the Regulatory Framework for Agricultural Biotechnology Products.

Additionally, the USDA developed the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, under then-Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, which set the ambitious goal of increasing U.S. agricultural production by 40 percent by 2050 while reducing agricultural emissions by half through the development of new and truly transformative innovations in agriculture.

These initiatives were a strong first step toward unleashing America’s agricultural dominance. But under the previous administration, we lost this momentum. Now, we have the opportunity to get back on track by passing a new farm bill.

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The Race to Scale Global Nuclear Energy (The National Interest)

This op-ed was originally published by The National Interest on October 2, 2025. Click here to read the entire piece.

The administration has set one of the boldest energy goals in American history: quadrupling nuclear energy production by 2050. This is an ambitious but necessary goal if the United States’ electricity demand is to double by 2050. Scaling nuclear energy would be necessary in order to come close to meeting that projected demand while also reducing emissions.

This goal would require a new reactor build-out at a scale never before seen in the United States. At current trajectories, the United States would need to add the equivalent capacity of our current fleet of 95 reactors every decade through 2050. The United States isn’t alone in its effort to meet this challenge. More than 30 other countries have set a goal to triple the global nuclear capacity. A targeted United States strategy and strong global leadership, along with allied cooperation on fuel, manufacturing, and financing, can make both goals a reality. 

The greatest asset the United States has to achieve this is a world-leading, innovative private sector. But even as tech and industrial customers are promising large investments, the United States must focus public and private resources to ensure companies have the tools to scale. Congress has demonstrated its commitment to nuclear energy with bipartisan policy and financial incentives, but more can be done to reduce investment risk as nuclear technology companies look to attract private capital, such as concepts like Senator Risch’s (R-ID) Accelerating Reliable Capacity Act.

In addition, the United States must work effectively with its allies. Countries like Canada have a reliable supply of uranium, Japan has nuclear fuel recycling expertise, and Japan and South Korea have robust manufacturing capabilities focused on international collaboration and export-driven growth. Furthermore, the United States and the UK just signed a partnership to collaborate on nuclear energy exports to expand the global market. Finally, with countries like Poland and Romania seeking alternatives to Russian energy in Eastern Europe, the United States has many opportunities for partnerships.

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Energy dominance means building more domestically, selling more globally (The Washington Times)

This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Times on September 29, 2025. Click here to read the entire piece.

In a world of growing demand, having energy is power. The United States faces a dual threat — meeting domestic demand and competing for global market share. China has been quietly reshaping the global energy landscape, exponentially building more on their soil, and outspending the U.S. nearly ten-to-one in overseas energy finance.

China added 475 gigawatts of new electricity generation in 2024. Meanwhile, the U.S. added just one-tenth of that. China built 74 gigawatts of new energy storage. The U.S. built 10. China built 54 gigawatts of new fossil fuel generation, primarily unmitigated coal. The U.S. built just two gigawatts of lower-emission gas.

By every metric, China is building more energy than we are. And that energy is fueling growth across their economy.

And make no mistake, as China further develops its own domestic capacity, it will sell even more of its products globally, furthering its global influence.

A first-of-its-kind analysis by ClearPath of U.S. and Chinese energy investments reveals staggering numbers: since 2015, China has poured $446 billion into global public energy projects compared to just $45 billion from the U.S. In Brazil, the Western Hemisphere’s second-largest economy, China has spent more than $60 billion, dwarfing America’s $472 million. 

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More American Energy Needs More Minerals and Better Permitting (RealClear Energy)

This op-ed was originally published by RealClear Energy on July 25, 2025. Click here to read the entire piece.

News out recently that the Trump Administration is imposing a new copper tariff may have come as a surprise to some, but it shouldn’t have. Regardless of who is in the White House, our access to important minerals like copper, a critical resource for clean energy development, depends on a delicately balanced supply chain that can be disrupted by an array of geopolitical or economic considerations. However, this announcement put a bright spotlight on the need for onshoring critical mineral production across America to help meet the rapidly growing energy demand.

For some, critical mineral development is wrought with hand-wringing and reflexive opposition by those who ignore the strength of our nation’s environmental protections and stringent regulations. What needs to be considered in greater detail, however, are the economic and energy security implications of turning a blind eye to fully bringing this production online in the U.S.

Take for instance, the fact that the demand for copper is expected to double by the year 2030. Or the fact that copper plays a vital role in the nearly six million line-miles of our electric grid, as well as manufacturing for a number of energy components. As we figure out ways to double power generation in the U.S., we’ll inevitably need more power lines, and obviously more copper. However, supply will fall 30% short of the amount required by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency.

Thankfully, one of the first actions President Trump took in his second term in office was to issue an Executive Order taking immediate actions to boost American mineral production. 

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Energy Incentives Will Unlock Energy Dominance (The Washington Times)

This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Times on April 28, 2025. Click here to read the entire piece.

The first 100 days of the new Trump administration have reshaped the energy landscape. Reliable, affordable energy is a top priority as the president seeks to unleash a new era of American energy dominance. Lower energy prices can usher in a true golden age for U.S. consumers. Done well, this agenda can also reduce global carbon dioxide emissions.

This dynamic is underscored by the president’s work to recruit new artificial intelligence and data center investments to the U.S. These investments can lead to economic development and will require rapid energy demand growth when paired with an American manufacturing resurgence, increasing U.S. energy demand by as much as 18% over the next decade, according to data from the North American Electric Reliability Council. Energy prices are one of the most important cost drivers in these energy-intensive industries.

A rapid increase in supply is required to maintain affordable costs for all American consumers. The U.S. must rapidly deploy all types of new American power. To effectively deploy these new technologies at speed, the administration will need to break down permitting barriers to accelerate the buildout of new energy infrastructure like pipelines, transmission, and other grid-enhancing technologies.

In addition to streamlining the permitting process to increase and maximize new investments, minimizing the tax burden on developers is another essential part of this equation. Maintaining low corporate rates is certainly going to help, but tax incentives also play an enormous role in minimizing investment risk and keeping prices low. Fortunately, some key incentives will not require drastic policy changes like the green new deal or a heavy-handed government regulation.

Existing incentives authored or supported by Republicans in Congress under current law are critical for American leadership in new, affordable, 24/7 American power. These forms of power include advanced nuclear, geothermal, hydropower, natural gas with carbon capture, and even new breakthroughs in fusion technology. Key incentives, like 48E/45Y technology-neutral electricity credit; the 45X advanced manufacturing credit; the 45Q carbon capture, utilization, and storage credit; and the 45V hydrogen credit, can reduce the costs for American producers and support the manufacturers and the mineral supply chain across the economy. Simply put, consumer prices go up if the U.S. doesn’t lower the tax and energy cost burden for American producers and manufacturers.

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