U.S. Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma spoke Wednesday to nearly 200 Tulsa Regional Chamber attendees, providing a federal perspective on key issues facing Americans. 

Appearing at the Chamber’s Congressional Forum at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tulsa, Lankford touched on everything from high diesel prices to permitting reform to the responsible application of artificial intelligence. 

U.S. diesel fuel prices are averaging about $6.28 per gallon in October, driven by geopolitical conflicts, tight global supplies and high crude oil costs.  

The top three producers of refined fuel oil products are the United States, Russia and the Persian Gulf area and two of them (Iran and U.S) are at war, Lankford said. 

A federal law enacted in 2022 also prohibits the U.S. import of Russian energy products, including crude oil and refined products such as diesel. 

“The President has said he wants for Russia to be able to put more products into the market to bring the global market down,” Lankford said. “You can agree or disagree with that. I just don’t think the United States should ever buy their products, especially while they are killing their neighbors.” 

The United States hasn’t been able to expand its refining capacity since the 1970s, he said. 

“We need to be able to do our own refining and not be dependent on the rest of the world,” Lankford said. 

On federal permitting reform, he said a bill has been introduced by senators to push agencies toward concurrent and coordinated environmental evaluations rather than sequential, isolated bottlenecks. 

“Part of what we’re trying to do is just stack all those permits altogether and do it simultaneously,” Lankford said. “That makes sense. That’s why Congress has never thought of it before. 

“A hard rock mine in Canada takes three to five years to permit. In the United States, that same mine takes 15 to 20 years to permit. Who’s going to put capital at risk if they know they are not going to get a return on their investment for 20 years?” 

The permitting reform bill is scheduled for Senate debate in early November. 

Lankford said the government is also exploring ways to address that Social Security’s retirement trust fund will be insolvent by mid-2032, according to the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). 

“That cannot happen,” he said. “We have vulnerable seniors all across the nation who are very dependent on the Social Security check."

The proliferation of data centers was another subject broached at the event. The United States has about 5,000 data centers, and Oklahoma has the second-largest one in the world (Google) at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, Lankford said. 

“We are in need of more data and more information. But we’re also in need of more power,” he said. “That’s why we’re having a conversation about nuclear. That’s why we’re having a conversation about additional natural gas production. 

“Data center or not, our country is growing in population and we’re going to need more and more power. So, we have to be able to figure out how to do it well and to be able to manage it well.” 

As for artificial intelligence, Lankford said the federal government needs to examine all aspects of the technology, particularly the societal component. 

“AI is not the enemy, and I don’t believe AI is going to create the Terminator and come shoot us,” he said...“We’re looking a lot at the national side. We’re looking a lot at the business side and development. The cultural side, there has not been enough conversation.  

“It (AI) is coming and if we don’t develop it faster than our enemies, they will learn our vulnerabilities before we will and will exploit them. What are the right boundaries to put around this to make sure we don’t miss the moment?”