Column: Conservatives must lead charge for ‘all-of-the-above” energy
The Virginian Pilot 7/26/26
As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, I think of a line from our National Anthem’s fourth stanza: “Then conquer we must, when our cause is just.” It once meant military conquest. Today, I apply it to a modern battle: the fight for global energy dominance. Adversaries like China are aggressively expanding their energy portfolios and racing to monopolize tomorrow’s technologies. To secure our freedom and economic vitality, our cause must be total energy independence through an unapologetic “all-of-the-above” strategy.
True energy security cannot be built on ideological purity. That’s why the push among some conservatives to scale back support for renewable energy is a strategic and economic misstep. Real dominance means owning the entire global energy market: oil, gas, nuclear, and renewables. We should not abandon lucrative, high-growth sectors to our adversaries.
Clean energy is, at its core, a conservative success story. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott presides over the nation’s largest wind energy market not to satisfy coastal elites, but because wind provides cheap, abundant power fueling the Texas economic miracle. In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds leads a state where over 60% of electricity comes from wind, a drought-proof cash crop that has poured revenue into rural counties and kept property taxes low. These leaders understand that maximizing domestic energy production drives down costs for families and businesses.
In my home of Hampton Roads, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project proves this pragmatic, technology-neutral approach works, harnessing the Atlantic’s immense energy while attracting investment and creating thousands of high-paying manufacturing and maritime jobs. The Charybdis, the first U.S.-based, Jones Act-compliant wind turbine installation vessel, signals an end to our reliance on foreign ships to build our own power plants. By building the ships, parts, and expertise here in Virginia, we insulate ourselves from global supply shocks.
But even rapid coastal wind cannot single-handedly solve this century’s deepest energy challenge: the AI boom. Northern Virginia hosts the world’s largest concentration of data centers, demanding massive 24/7 baseload power that pushes grid operators like PJM Interconnection to the limit. Rapid-deployment renewables give us a head start, but we must back them up with dense, emissions-free baseload power. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) must be deployed alongside our renewable portfolios, delivering reliable power directly to data center hubs without overloading local communities.
Looking further ahead, we must win the race for nuclear fusion, the ultimate prize of the AI era. American venture capital and AI-optimized plasma control are pushing private fusion companies toward grid-ready commercial power by the 2030s, including right here in Virginia. If America falls behind on fusion and SMRs, we trade our current energy dependencies for a new reliance on Beijing for advanced components and superconducting magnets.
We must also bridge energy production and rural heritage through agrivoltaics, specifically solar grazing. Rather than framing the debate as “farms vs. panels,” utilities contract with local shepherds to graze sheep under solar arrays a cost-effective alternative to gas-powered mowing, and a steady income stream that lets multi-generational farming families pay off debts and preserve their land as a legacy rather than sell to developers.
None of this potential can be unleashed while regulatory paralysis persists. A decade of red tape to permit a lithium mine, transmission line, or reactor amounts to unilateral disarmament. Congress must embrace the bipartisan SPEED Act to modernize NEPA, shorten permitting timelines, and curb frivolous litigation. The speed of construction is now a metric of national survival.
We must resist narratives that demonize individual pieces of our energy puzzle. From Texas oil to Iowa wind, from Virginia’s coastal turbines to SMRs and American fusion labs, energy dominance balanced with respect for our environment and unleashed by permitting reform is national survival. Then conquer we must, for our cause is just.