(VitalNews.org) – Amid rising national debt concerns, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum stirred hope and controversy by claiming the U.S.’s untapped natural assets could be worth up to $100 trillion—triple the national debt.
Burgum has revealed that the nation’s natural resources could be worth triple the $36.6 trillion national debt.
Secretary Burgum challenged the conventional narrative about America’s financial standing.
He pointed out that the United States lacks a comprehensive national balance sheet that accounts for the vast natural resources, leaving Americans unaware of the true wealth beneath their feet.
The Interior Department alone oversees 500 million acres of land, while the U.S. Forest Service manages another 200 million acres.
This amounts to 700 million acres of surface land plus an additional 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights.
These areas are rich with critical minerals, oil, gas, and coal – resources that could fuel American manufacturing and energy independence for generations.
Even more impressive is America’s offshore potential. The United States controls 2.5 billion acres of offshore territory, much of which remains unexplored.
Burgum’s revelation exposes how Democrats have deliberately prevented Americans from utilizing their own natural resources.
While they have forced the country to depend on foreign energy and materials, they have simultaneously complained about the growing national debt – a problem they could have addressed by unleashing American energy production.
The Secretary stated:
“And there’s 2.5 billion acres of offshore, many of which have not been even explored. All of which represent huge, huge assets for us. So if you take our forests, our lands, our grasslands, our lands that are near urban areas, our mineral resources and offshore resources, I think the number is… Double, triple, what our national debt is. It could be a 100 trillion.”
The Burgum also highlighted how publishing a national balance sheet that includes these natural assets could dramatically improve America’s creditworthiness.
This could lower interest rates on government debt, saving taxpayers billions while strengthening America’s financial position globally.
Ultimately, unleashing American energy and mining could dramatically reduce the national debt, create millions of high-paying jobs, and restore American energy dominance.
The only thing standing in the way is the radical environmental agenda that has crippled American prosperity for too long.
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