Dave Freudenthal

Dave Freudenthal, a Wyoming native, served two terms as Wyoming’s 31st governor. In 2002, Freudenthal, a Democrat and first-time candidate, won an upset victory in one of America’s most overwhelmingly Republican states. When he stepped down in 2011, his approval rating was over eighty percent—at the top among all U.S. governors—and he left his successor with a balanced budget and a billion dollar surplus. Approximately twelve percent of all energy consumed in America originates in Wyoming. As the nation’s least populous state, Wyoming maintains a resource-based economy, relying primarily on mineral and energy extraction, tourism and agriculture for its economic livelihood. Wyoming was the first state to adopt meaningful regulation of hydraulic fracturing. It is also the leader in establishing a legal framework for carbon capture and sequestration. Under Freudenthal, significant effort was devoted to the Wyoming Pipeline Authority and the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority whose missions are to increase the pipeline capacity and electric transmission infrastructure to move Wyoming’s energy to national markets. Freudenthal’s leadership on natural resource development issues led to his service as Chairman of Western Governors Association and Chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Prior to his terms as Governor, Freudenthal served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming from 1994 to 2001. His case load included federal mineral royalties, Migratory Bird Treaty Act violations, and improper “cap and seal” of oil and gas wells. Freudenthal is currently Senior Counsel with Crowell & Moring in their Cheyenne office with practice emphasis on energy and natural resources.