Dakota Resource Council (DRC)

It operates as a member organization of the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), a coordinating body for left-wing activist groups in the western United States funded by major left-of-center institutions. The group receives financial support through the Western Organization of Resource Councils Education Project (WORCEP). ^{1 2}

Background

The Dakota Resource Council was founded in 1978 as an umbrella organization for local groups in North Dakota seeking to influence state and federal energy and agricultural policy. The group was initially concerned with the impacts of coal development in the state, and over time expanded its focus to encompass oil and gas development, genetically modified crops, and corporate farming. ^{1 3}

The DRC is one of eight member organizations within the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) network, which also includes groups such as Dakota Rural Action, the Northern Plains Resource Council, and the Powder River Basin Resource Council. The WORC network coordinates issue campaigns and shares resources, staff, and training across its member groups. ^{4 5}

The group operates six affiliate organizations across North Dakota, including the Badlands Area Resource Council, the Grand Forks County Citizens Coalition, the McKenzie County Energies and Taxation Association, the Missouri Valley Resource Council, the Souris Valley Chapter, and the South Agassiz Resource Council. The DRC also claims affiliation with Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights (POWER), a tribally led environmental group on the Fort Berthold Reservation. ⁶

Activities

The Dakota Resource Council has been an active opponent of energy infrastructure projects in North Dakota over several decades. The group coordinated opposition to the Keystone 1 pipeline alongside the North Dakota chapter of the Sierra Club, monitoring the pipeline for what it characterized as construction and operational problems. ^{7 8}

In 2024, the DRC opposed Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon capture and sequestration pipeline, a network of over 2,500 miles of pipeline that would transport carbon dioxide from ethanol plants across five states to underground storage sites in western North Dakota. ⁹

The DRC also challenged the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s December 2024 approval of underground CO2 storage permits, with executive director Scott Skokos claiming that incidents in Illinois demonstrated insufficient knowledge of the technology. ¹⁰

The DRC has lobbied the North Dakota state legislature against bills that would modify the state’s farming laws. In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee in 2023, Skokos opposed HB 1371, a bill that would have loosened restrictions on large-scale animal agriculture operations, arguing the measure would benefit out-of-state corporate interests over North Dakota family farmers. ¹¹

Citizens Local Energy Action Network (CLEAN)

The Dakota Resource Council operates a clean energy affiliate called the Citizens Local Energy Action Network (CLEAN), which promotes the adoption of weather-dependent energy across the region as an alternative to coal, oil, and gas development. ¹²