{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/hoeven-outlines-efforts-to-secure-future-of-coal-industry-in-north-dakota", "Hoeven Outlines Efforts to Secure Future of Coal Industry in North Dakota", "2026-08-12", "2026", "2026-08", "Republican", "Senate", "ND", "John Hoeven", "H001061", "www.hoeven.senate.gov", "hoeven", "https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "BISMARCK, N.D. \u2013 At the Basin Electric Power Cooperative\u2019s annual meeting today, Senator John Hoeven discussed the important role that reliable, coal-fired baseload power plays in making the U.S. energy secure and outlined his efforts to ensure the future of this critical industry.\n\nAs a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Hoeven is working to advance Crack the Code 2.0 with the goal of:\n\nDoubling oil recovery in the Bakken.\n\nDoubling the life of North Dakota\u2019s coal-fired power plants.\n\nEarlier this year, Hoeven secured $36 million in federal funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) for the first phase of Crack the Code 2.0.\n\nHoeven worked closely with U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his team at DOE to finalize the federal award.\n\nThis brings the total phase one funding to $157 million when combined with $76 million in private investment and $45.1 million in state funding.\n\nPhase one will develop large-scale pilot projects to advance the technical and commercial viability of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Bakken, using CO2 from coal-fired power plants to increase the productivity of oil wells.\n\nCrack the Code 2.0 is further supported by a policy Hoeven worked to secure in the Working Families Tax Cut Act to properly align the 45Q tax credit to incentivize the use of CO2 for EOR.\n\nEOR provides an additional revenue stream to support the reliable baseload power provided by coal producers, while unlocking at least 5 billion additional barrels of oil in the Bakken.\n\n\u201cDemand for electricity is up, and it\u2019s going to keep increasing. We need baseload power sources like coal to maintain the reliability and affordability of the grid now and into the future. That\u2019s an essential part of making the U.S. energy dominant, and it\u2019s exactly what Crack the Code 2.0 will help accomplish,\u201d said Hoeven. \u201cBy partnering our coal and oil industries and using CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, we are creating an additional revenue stream to help keep our coal-fired power plants online. We\u2019ve now secured a total of $157 million for the initiative\u2019s first phase, which will develop large-scale pilot projects to prove that it works and is commercially viable. At the same time, we\u2019ve worked closely with the Trump administration to reduce the regulatory burden for our energy producers, including our coal industry. By rolling back unworkable Biden-era mandates, we are bringing down the cost of energy and ensuring we can make the best use of our abundant energy resources.\u201d\n\nHoeven\u2019s efforts on Crack the Code 2.0 complement the regulatory relief that he has worked to provide for coal producers. In particular, Hoeven advanced efforts to roll back the following burdensome, overreaching Biden-era regulations:\n\nThe Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) Regulations\n\nHoeven, along with then-Congressman Kelly Armstrong, previously led bicameral legislation to block the EPA from implementing its new MATS rule. When first advanced in 2012 by the Obama administration, this rule contributed to the closure of numerous power plants before being blocked by the Supreme Court in 2015. The Biden administration then revived the MATS rule utilizing the same unreasonable cost justification that was rejected by the Supreme Court.\n\nThe regulations would have replaced the existing cost-effective standards, which have already been found to protect human health and safety. Hoeven worked with the Trump administration to issue a rule, which was finalized earlier this year, rescinding the Biden-era MATS regulations.\n\nThe Public Lands Rule\n\nThe Public Lands Rule would have overhauled the management of more than 245 million acres of taxpayer-owned lands and establish \u201cconservation leases\u201d to lock away federal lands and minerals. Hoeven previously led his colleagues in pushing for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to withdraw the rule when it was proposed in 2023 and introduced legislation with Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to block its implementation. Last year, the Trump administration released a proposal to rescind the Public Lands Rule.\n\nThe Resource Management Plan (RMP) for North Dakota\n\nThe RMP for North Dakota would have closed off leasing to 45 percent of potential federal oil and gas acreage and nearly 99 percent of federal coal acreage in the state. Accordingly, Hoeven, along with the North Dakota delegation, introduced and worked to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to rescind the RMP and help ensure access to taxpayer-owned energy resources in North Dakota.\n\n-###-", 1, "2026-08-13T06:17:16Z", "2026-08-13T06:18:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/hoeven-outlines-efforts-to-secure-future-of-coal-industry-in-north-dakota"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2933958787471056, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}