PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania could help President Donald Trump's second administration achieve its energy goals, but not in the way most people may think.

Fracking and Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” were staples of his campaign speeches in Pennsylvania last year as he attacked former Vice President Kamala Harris' flip-flopping on the issue.

It's unclear if Trump will be able to significantly expand the fracking industry in the state, but a top Pennsylvania energy expert said Trump could look to the commonwealth's vast offering of rare earth elements to help achieve his goal of establishing “our position as the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals.”

Trump signed several executive orders last week that will likely have profound effects on energy and the environment. This includes, but is not limited to: streamlining the process and removing regulations for energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals; rolling back energy efficiency standards; declaring an energy emergency; ending leasing to wind farms; and pulling out of the Paris Agreement, a treaty on climate change.

The full-scale tangible effects of Trump's energy goals remain to be seen, as some policies may be more difficult to garner support for and some of the executive orders on energy signed by Trump contain vague language, according to experts.

Here's what Pennsylvania's role in energy policy could look like.

'Drill, baby, drill' in Pennsylvania — or maybe not?

Some experts say within the first 90 days, the Trump administration could make major moves to increase drilling in the U.S. But those federal policies will likely have little impact on the state, said John Quigley, senior fellow at University of Pennsylvania's Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

The Allegheny National Forest makes up most of the federally owned land in Pennsylvania, but the federal government does not own mineral rights on 93% of that land, said Quigley, who served as Pennsylvania's secretary of conservation under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and secretary of environmental protection under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

Most fracking wells in the U.S. are on private land, but Trump's second term could allow for more drilling permits being leased to federal lands. This could depress prices and reduce industry profits, Quigley said.

Trump has indicated through executive order that he plans to identify and produce energy on lands, whether or not they're federally owned. Former President Joe Biden's administration pushed for renewable energy, but it never promoted a fracking ban, issuing more permits to drill for oil and natural gas on federal land than Trump did during his first term.

Pennsylvania is “looking at higher energy prices because of a 'drill, baby, drill' type approach, and that's the irony. We're going to face higher costs again, for consumers, businesses, industries,” which could affect employment, gross domestic product, and the environment, Quigley said.

When asked about Trump's plans for fracking in Pennsylvania, a White House spokesperson said in a statement: “President Trump declared a national energy emergency [last week] and issued several energy executive orders to immediately begin reversing the harmful and shortsighted policies of the previous administration, which have resulted in inadequate energy supply and infrastructure, and ultimately higher energy prices for Americans.”

How Pennsylvania's rare earth elements could help Trump's goals

While Trump might not be able to expand fracking in the state, the White House could set its sights on one of Pennsylvania's other natural offerings.

One of Trump's executive orders, titled “Unleashing American Energy,” outlines the Trump administration's ambitions to assert its dominance in the development of non-fuel minerals. The White House says this goal “will create jobs and prosperity at home, strengthen supply chains for the United States and its allies, and reduce the global influence of malign and adversarial states.”

Pennsylvania has had a rich offering of rare earth elements, known as lanthanides, since at least 1850. And materials — like coal waste or steel slag, for example — can be found throughout the state, including in Western Pennsylvania and in Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties, perhaps assisting the Trump administration in achieving the benchmark, Quigley said.

If the United States develops technology to “economically extract” the rare earth elements, it could open opportunities for new jobs and businesses in Pennsylvania while cleaning up polluted areas where these elements exist, like abandoned mines, Quigley said.

The elements are also key ingredients in magnets, batteries, and various electronic devices.

The use of rare earth elements for energy production is likely to be a bipartisan issue, Quigley said. In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy under the Biden administration announced more than $17 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law that sought to fund projects that develop crucial materials from coal and coal byproducts.