Climate plan for energy-rich North Dakota ignores fossil fuels. Here’s why.

A gas flare burns in front of an oil well pump jack near Killdeer, North Dakota, on Feb. 1, 2024. North Dakota is the nation's No. 3 oil producing state. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

North Dakota has released a five-point climate plan that includes planting trees, better light bulbs and changes in farming, but with no mention of coal, oil or natural gas.  

That is despite the fact that North Dakota is the nation’s No. 3 producer of oil and ranks sixth for overall energy production. 

“There’s a big blind spot in that plan. They’re ignoring the fact that they have a highly emitting oil and gas and coal industry,” said Scott Skokos of the Dakota Resource Council, an environmental group. 

“They’re just going after the easy stuff, really,” Skokos said. “But I’ll applaud the fact that they’re actually going after the easy stuff.” 

The easy stuff includes improving soil health and more energy-efficient buildings and streetlights. 

Dave Glatt is the director of the Department of Environmental Quality, which came up with the plan that was announced in March. He said the easy stuff was what the department had in mind to qualify for some federal grants through the Environmental Protection Agency. 

David Glatt, director of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, speaks to the Energy Development and Transmission Committee about federal regulations on April 10, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Glatt said the EPA was looking for some shovel-ready plans by March 1 and grant applications have been submitted to the agency.

“So it had, almost by necessity, it had to be those kinds of projects that are already being implemented or could hit the ground fairly quickly, without a whole lot of additional work,” Glatt said.

For example, there already were tree-planting and ag programs through Soil Conservation Districts. 

He said another round of grants in about a year will start looking at the hard stuff and North Dakota’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.  

“We’re going to be looking at our larger industries, and there’s a lot going on in that space right now,” Glatt said. “Oil and gas, electric generation facilities are very much aware of the climate issues and concerns out there and they’re looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint. And there’s some really exciting things going on in North Dakota that will be highlighted.”

He noted that his department did issue a permit for Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Project Tundra to capture carbon emissions from the Milton R. Young power plant near Center in Oliver County. Minnkota is still deliberating whether to move forward with the project.

“Those bigger projects, such as carbon capture and sequestration at a power plant, those are major projects. They’re gonna take tons of money, over a billion dollars to implement, a lot of design work. And it takes time for that to get through the process,” Glatt said. 

Glatt said the EPA, which provided $3 million to develop the plan, also wanted a baseline of North Dakota greenhouse gas emissions and public outreach on climate problems and solutions. 

The baseline was provided by the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota. 

It said, for 2019, the largest contributors were: 

• Industry, 21%

• Oil and natural gas, 20%

• Agriculture, natural and working lands, 19%

• Electric power generation, 16%

• Commercial and residential buildings and waste, 13%

• Transportation, 11%

For public outreach, the Department of Environmental Quality did two rounds of public meetings to gather input. 

The report on the results is on the department’s website. 

Benefits to North Dakotans from reduced greenhouse gas emissions cited during the public meetings centered on enhanced quality of life through cleaner air and water and fewer extreme weather events. Other benefits mentioned include enabling North Dakota products to access low-carbon energy markets, improving the resiliency of communities and making the state more attractive to investors, young people and workers.

On potential downsides, people in western North Dakota worried about job losses in the oil and gas industries and in ranching livelihoods, while in the east, they were concerned about farming.

A wind turbine is pictured east of Wilton in central North Dakota. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

“Disposal of windmill blades and solar panels were often mentioned among those with alternative energy concerns,” the report said. 

Three common themes were more education, funding opportunities and access to government programs, with complicated paperwork seen as a barrier. 

On energy, commenters noted that the relatively low cost of North Dakota electricity does not create enough of an incentive for people to change practices.  

There will be more chances for the public to provide input later this year. 

Glatt said getting projects funded and seeing them through would be one measure of success but not the only one. 

“The success here … it’s just starting to get an awareness that there are options out there and it’s not a one size fits all, and that as a state, we can control some of our future,” Glatt said. 

ND climate plan

The North Dakota Priority Climate Action Plan includes:

The Energy Conservation Grant Program – Expand a program for energy efficiency buildings. 

Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture Program – Add up to eight Soil Conservation Districts to provide financial incentives for climate-smart agriculture practices.

Soil Health Cover Crop Program – Expand eligibility and incentives for farmers in 54 Soil Conservation Districts by implementing cover crops to promote soil health and increasing access to no-till drill planting equipment. 

Fargo LED Streetlight Upgrades – Upgrade all remaining streetlight replacements throughout the city of Fargo to more energy-efficient and longer-lasting LEDs that use approximately 50% less energy and benefit surrounding communities. 

Tree Planting Initiative – Expand the program in 54 Soil Conservation Districts with tree and shrub plantings to improve soil health and energy efficiency upgrades for tree seedling storage coolers.

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