Trump Energy Policy at Top of Oil & Gas Industry’s Mind
Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump will headline the seventh annual Western Conservative Summit Friday morning in Denver, giving an address at 10:30 a.m. at the Colorado Convention Center, the candidate’s first public appearance in Colorado.
Jeff Hunt, producer of the event and Director of the Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University—the event sponsor—told Oil & Gas 360® he hopes the event will unite voters and candidates on important issues ahead of the November election. The Centennial Institute is a public policy think tank.
“What you are getting are the experts on the issues, the best minds, and I want constituents to be able to walk away from the summit going ‘I have the best arguments. I know how to defend the issues that are important to conservatives and be able to get that information out’,” Hunt said.
Hunt said that he hopes the event will provide an opportunity to mend rifts that emerged between the nominee and Colorado conservatives in a volatile political season.
“There needs to be a coming together moment here in Colorado,” Hunt said, noting that Trump has generated greater interest for the event. “He brings a lot of energy and now we have Sarah Palin coming too, so I think it will be a lot of fun.”
Security at the Western Conservative Summit has been heightened due to Trump’s scheduled appearance. The topics of the presumptive Republican nominee’s speech have not been announced, Hunt said. The weekend-long event is sold out, with more than 4,000 expected to attend.
Trump’s Stance on Energy
Photo: Oil & Gas 360
In a campaign speech in North Dakota in late May, Trump laid out his energy plan for the country. Trump’s characterization was that his plan represents “energy reform that creates trillions in new wealth.”
“America’s incredible energy potential remains untapped,” Trump told his North Dakota audience. “It is a totally self-inflicted wound. Under my presidency, we will accomplish complete American energy independence. Imagine a world in which our foes, and the oil cartels, can no longer use energy as a weapon.”
Trump will be joined in Denver on Friday by Sarah Palin, former vice-presidential candidate and former governor of Alaska, another state that is heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry.
Other key speakers include U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (Arkansas), former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, U.S. Representative Ken Buck (Weld County, Colorado), along with about 40 other politicians, officeholders, conservative-leaning media personalities, entertainers and others.
“The summit is recognized as the national forum for open dialogue that celebrates conservative values, freedom and virtue as the elements most critical to the preservation of the U.S. Constitution and for the United States to thrive,” Hunt said in a press release.
Oil & Gas 360® will cover the Trump speech from Denver.
