“The data center is like an exaggeration of the issue that is now so apparent to everybody else. But for the poor souls like myself that have spent a lot of time trying to build pipelines in our country, it's the same issue. It's just that it's become super evident to everybody because the cool kids are now getting stopped on trying to build data centers.”
Energy News Beat · Climate & Energy · November 2026
Context
Asked what the election means for data centers and LNG, the Oklahoma senator and former pipeline executive ties both to permitting reform, which he says has taken up most of his time in the Senate.
Transcript
…I've been working on some articles and blue states have a 52.5% higher electricity price. So Texas, guess what you just voted in? We are, you know, well, buckle up. This is going to be a rough ride, but we are not out of the woods yet. So I tell you, this is going to be entertainment at its finest.
…we'll start with you. What are your thoughts on where the data centers in liquid natural gas are now headed? Yeah, well, you know, what a huge opportunity for our country that, you know, we cannot afford to not deliver on. And it is unfortunately, you know, very connected to the permitting reform
…that we have in our life and all the great things that our countries had because we were builders. We were proud of the fact that we built things. And we've gotten this attitude that we can't, nothing can be built around me if it's going to inconvenience me in any way. It's not the way our country became great. But permitting reform is the reason it's such an important topic is that exact issue. The data center is like an exaggeration of the issue that is now so apparent to everybody else. But for the poor souls like myself that have spent a lot of time trying to build pipelines in our country, it's the same issue. It's just that it's become super evident to everybody because the cool kids are now getting stopped on trying to build data centers. But what an incredibly important thing for our country and to isolate a state like Texas that has all of the resources and the capital and the people and everything that it takes to be able to build out in big scale and support data centers to think that Texas would become a desert on that front is just kind of beyond something I can comprehend right now. I can tell you this, if it happens…
to be able to build them wherever it makes sense to be building
them. And so I'm really disappointed in that particular outcome of the election and the impact that that has on our country in general. But places like Oklahoma, Wyoming are going to have to really step up to take that on if indeed that actually comes through to fruition in a great state like…
You know, when you mentioned, Steve, a great point that it's not going anywhere. How can we continue to provide a positive message? If anybody I know that could do it, it's you. But how can we continue to provide a positive message that says, hey, we need more LNG, not necessarily for data centers…
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