In the podcast “Your Trash – Your Future” This episode highlights the significance of land reclamation, particularly in the context of oil, gas, and renewable energy projects. Rey Treviño shares his family’s efforts to restore land and emphasizes the need for responsible environmental management. The discussion covers political support, technological innovations, and the importance of education and collaboration. The episode concludes with a call to action for donations and support for Energy Remediation of America.
Highlights of the Podcast
00:45 – Land Reclamation Overview
04:58 – Political and Financial Support
06:13 – Educational Components and Future Steps
09:07 – Collaborative Opportunities and Technology
13:00 – Environmental and Economic Impact
18:53 – Next Steps and Call to Action
Your Trash Your Future – Episode 3 Final Cut.mp4
Debra Wold [00:00:08] Hi, welcome to your trash your future today. We are so blessed and honored to have a special guest with us. He is going to be talking to us today about land reclamation. It’s a very cute topic for what’s happening in our world today. So stay tuned. We’re going to be talking to our new guest, Ray Trevino. Thank you so much for joining us, Ray. My guest, Ray, is the vice president of Pecos Country Operating, and we are very honored to have as well as he is the president of Trevino Family Resources. Thank you so much for joining us. Rey Treviño [00:00:44] Yes, thank you, Debra, and I am so excited. First of all, thank you for asking me to be on. I am so nervous right now. I’m so excited for this podcast, what you are doing. And again, you’ve been on shameless plug. You’ve been on my show. The truth and what you were doing in fact helped motivate inspire me to really look at more than just oil and gas. But we can get into that. But thank you so much for having me. And yes, a lot of people say Pecos Country or Pecos. I can’t even do it anymore. But Paco County, it’s Pecos country, and and a lot of people get that mistaken because we got the famous infamous Pecos County out in West Texas that is just full of oil and gas. So yeah. So, Deborah, thank you so much for having me on. Debra Wold [00:01:29] Well, wonderful. And you’re right, country is key. But let’s put nation down. Right. Let’s get you as big as possible what you guys are doing. You’re making a difference in this world. And that’s the key thing as well. So would you like to tell us a little bit more about land reclamation and what your family foundation is doing? Because it’s very important for people to understand that land can be reclaimed, land can be reclaimed oil and gas, abandoned wells. So please tell us a little more about that. Rey Treviño [00:01:55] Yes. Let me just dive on in. It’s actually a you know, we have an employee company called Trevino Resources and that is our family office. And so we are a family office. We don’t talk about that very, very often. But now to not talk about it and kind of go to land reclamation, as we all know, no matter what it is, there’s always some form of land that does. And I’m gonna use quotations for our listeners out there disturbed whenever you’re drilling a new oil well or, heaven forbid, putting up a new wind turbine or even creating new solar panel fields. And so there’s always going to be some form of issues. And sometimes, unfortunately, there’s people out there that just do not leave it better than they found it. That’s one thing that, you know, I’m an Eagle Scout. Both my brothers are. And that’s what the real Boy Scouts of America I’m not going to. That one used to teach you was, you know, you want to leave it better than you found it. Make it look great work there. So whenever we drill an oil well or a natural gas, well, obviously we’re going to have a pump jack there. But other than that, we want, you know, we want it to look great. The cows, if we’re on a rancher’s property, they’re back eating the grass within six months in the area. So it’s very, very important to us. And at the end of the day, it is God that gives us this oil out of the ground, or natural gas with the wind or the sun to provide this energy sources at the end of the day. So we need to just be good stewards of the land and, you know, do our best. So what we’ve begin to realize is that there’s a lot of talk and not as much action. Right. And good old, you know, we needed to take the Elvis Presley approach, you know, a little bit more action, a little less talk. Right? Yeah. And so what we are doing is actually working with great other large families and large companies to actually we, we claim that old land that may need some reclamation and also then do the things possible to get it back into a beautiful standard. And this is for anything, you know, this is for people that are for farmers that may not be able to afford the the cost that may have an orphaned well there, or if there’s an area where there’s a wind turbine farm, that may be going bankrupt because who we can those things are not making money. You know, so, you know, there’s so there’s so much going on to where people that didn’t sign, you know, to have to babysit all this stuff are now having to come back and they can’t afford to do that. So that’s what we are working on. And we’re working in partner with also a great group called the Energy Remediation of America. Okay. That is going to be the main focus of Energy Remediation of America. We’re very excited to talk about that. And so that’s what we’re doing. And we will again be working with large families and large businesses and to to really go out there and get this cleaned up, forget about pointing a finger at anybody, okay? Right. One thing I learned many years ago. Your fault. My fault. Nobody’s fault. Debra Wold [00:04:57] Right? Rey Treviño [00:04:57] Okay. And we need to take that approach as human beings and as guests on this planet. So we need more action and a lot less talk, and. So that’s what we’re going to be doing. So we’re very very excited about that. Debra Wold [00:05:11] So with all that being said, which is fantastic and absolutely what needs to be done, there’s two components I want to ask about. Number one, are you politically getting the support that you need to move this initiative forward? Is there anything that’s blocking you? Are politicians saying, hey, that’s a great idea like they do with the solar wind, hydrothermal, all that are they say, hey, this is a great idea, let’s reclaim our land. Rey Treviño [00:05:33] Yes. You know, right now at this stage of the easiest answer is yes. I’m getting a lot of great feedback. The one thing that is funny is that IRA dollars the buyer. I’m not talking about the tax people. I’m talking about the Inflation Reduction Act. I mean, there are ways there, but then there are also loopholes there. So it’s really, really interesting that here, this Green New Deal because let’s be honest, that’s really what the Inflation Reduction Act was. Have ways for you to clean up the oil and gas or these wind farms, but they don’t have ways for you to then actually get the dollars in some forms of fashion. So go figure that. Debra Wold [00:06:12] Well, and that’s very important too, because a lot of times people don’t know what’s going on. You know, they get behind the initiative, the solar, the wind. And that looks great, you know. But what they’re doing a lot of times is that throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yeah. Fossil fuel is not going away. I love that you mentioned that God gave us fossil fuel. It’s obvious. Right? It’s going to be here for hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years. Yeah, but the key thing is, well, I don’t like it when I see what’s happening right now. Even in our industry, it’s. No, there’s no education. Children are not being educated properly. Adults are not being educated properly. Like there’s a sign, a billboard. Everybody sees a billboard and says this of the green energy, so forth and so on. But the reality behind it, it’s not being talked about. Now, is there an educational component to your foundation where people can link into it and learn more about what you’re doing? Rey Treviño [00:07:02] You know what? That’s a great, great question, Deborah. And that is something I think we do need to add. You know, right now we’re really just about the action. It’s like, hey, we’re going to get out there. We’re going to plug these all orphan wells, cap them off, put the correct latitude, longitude, and then you cover them up because when they’re done properly, they’re very safe. No different than when you’re drilling an oil and gas. Well, what we find is this, Deborah, when it comes to the oil and gas out of these orphan wells, and I want to say this, the proper way to drilling oil are to plug in oil and gas. Well in 1955 is a lot different than 2025. So that’s where we see a lot of these issues. And I’m not going to sit there and point the finger at these old operators that may not even be in office anymore. It’s because technology has changed. Debra Wold [00:07:50] Exactly. Rey Treviño [00:07:50] The ways to do things have changed. I mean, come on, you know, you talk about baby in the bathwater and we’ll talk. But, you know, people were getting their legs cut off because they couldn’t. So something up that so simple now. So we’re not going back and blaming the doctor from 50 years ago. It’s like technology is gotten better. I’m not going to do the same thing and blame these older companies, these older, long, longer generational families for not doing all right. They did it right. It was right 70 years ago. For goodness sakes. Let’s let’s just get things done right today that affect the positiveness tomorrow. And so yes, no, that’s really more about what we are on about. But yes, as I launch out and our team launches out Energy Remediation of America. Yes. So we will definitely have some more education along with this because they need to know again that, hey, we’re not doing anything bad, right? And that even when these wells are in production or these two wind turbines, they’re not doing anything bad. We’re trying to be the best that we can. And then I love how yes, no oil and gas is renewable. I had to tell somebody that the other day. It’s like it may not be as fast, but you know what? I have a feeling oil and gas will probably be here until we’re all gone. Debra Wold [00:09:06] Oh, absolutely. It’s like the key thing, too. And when you talk about the windmills, right? Yes. And this is a shameless plug for our company too. In our technology partners. Yes. We have the ability to take those windmills through this technology that we’ve been talking about in your show and condense them down through our questioner into a size of a cup and pop them right into our facility. We can use the balsam wood and make jet, you know, we can make electricity out of that so we can partner up with your foundation and like, work with you in that paradigm, working with the politicians and even working with the unions to bring in that operation where we can help out the farmers to take those windmills and use them for our benefit as well. So that’s a collaboration. I always say natural resources turn to renewable natural resources. You right with the. Yeah. Yeah. And then we would be the renewable side taking the things off the property and then using them for the benefit of making more low cost stuff. Rey Treviño [00:10:02] Well that is awesome. Okay. So okay, so I’m picturing, you know, we take a wind. You know, first off, I gotta get a big crane back out there. Debra Wold [00:10:09] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Rey Treviño [00:10:10] You know, all these sayings and you bring it down. So once that wind turbine is down on the ground, what do you do with it? Debra? Can you walk me through some of that? Debra Wold [00:10:18] Absolutely. So what we would do is we take the blade. You had the blade down on the ground. It would have to be cut up to, you know, like to fit on a 40 foot trailer, take it to our facility, and then we have a massive crusher that would crush it. Crush? It takes a Volkswagen card and condenser down to the size of a can. What? Yeah, and this is a monster crusher. Yeah. So with that being said, then it goes into that mass, energy burn plant that we have, right, which takes trash and turns it into low cost fuels, low cost electricity. We can basically take anything that has carbon base to it. God forbid we want it to ourselves in the crusher or the facility. Right? We’re made out of carbon, right? So that is a benefit to reclaiming the land? Rey Treviño [00:11:00] Yes. Debra Wold [00:11:01] So that’s kind of what we’ve been talking about. And actually what we can do is actually in the the gentleman that we’re working with who owns the technology, he owns the processes and he owns all the patents, two of the processes and the inventions. Yeah. So we’re now scouting out, looking at different locations in the United States about these windmills that are going to be toppling down eventually and using them in our facility. So just a shameless plug there. Rey Treviño [00:11:25] Wow. That is awesome. That is that is really, really cool because, I mean, I know just here in Texas in the good old city of Sweetwater, West Texas, I mean, they’ve got like literally a wind turbine blade graveyard out there right now. Debra Wold [00:11:41] That we need to do. Rey Treviño [00:11:42] Wow. That’s awesome. I mean, because that’s one thing also, Deborah, and I’m glad you brought up that there is no way to recycle or get rid of these wind turbines. I mean, it’s like, what are we doing here, people? And, you know, the other day I had a great opportunity to visit with Senator Ted Cruz from Texas. Debra Wold [00:12:01] Wonderful. Rey Treviño [00:12:02] Yes. And he mentioned, and it’s really true that it’s like if the if the Left Party, the Democrats actually wanted to get rid of oil and gas, they could they’d hit the button today and they would have to figure out how to get home. It’s like it’s there’s no common sense in these renewables that they’re using. It’s like, okay, I get it that the wind in in creating it, but if you have no way to dispose of that, then what good is it? And also, you know, with oil and gas pump jacks, I mean, those things last 100 years and or even more and they’re all metal. And so obviously they’re steel, which then can be melted down or repurposed. Right. But you just refurbish one of those and you might have it on a well for 30 years. And then guess what? You can literally go put that old pump jack that goes up and down. Well, 30 years later, recycling. I mean, heaven forbid, heaven forbid, be able to actually truly recycle. Debra Wold [00:12:59] And see, that’s the thing. That’s why these podcasts are so important in getting the word out. People need to understand that oil and gas, fossil fuels are good. It’s all in how they’re used. You guys are socially responsible. You are taking care of the environment, almost in essence with the solar and the wind. Are they really taking care of the environment with these solar companies? No disrespect toward any of them or the wind, right? Do they come back and do they take them down or do they clean them up? We don’t know. We have yet to tell. Right, right. So this is where sometimes a good solution, a quick one, is not always the best one. You know, you have to think long term. What will the consequences be? So with all that being said, how do you feel like if you want to get involved with environmental groups. Right. How would you explain to them in a way that is a narrative? Well, they will feel comfortable about the land reclamation that you’re doing, that you’re not going to destroy the land, but you have other ways of complementing and isn’t what they’re projecting. Rey Treviño [00:13:58] Yeah. You know, that’s a good question. When when we talk to people, it’s like, hey, we are right now we’re focused. Right now we’re doing plug in Orphan Wells. That’s really where we’re kind of starting, right. And right now to a lot of groups. They just think, all right great. You’re anti oil okay. And I got to say wait a minute. Actually oil and gas that is helping fund this right. Fund this. Right. And and it’s really a majority of it is funding it. And it’s like you know what we do is you know, it’s really no different than any other type of maintenance on any type of a lawn. It’s like, we’re going to get out there, we’re going to clean it up. We’re going to then pull it back out if we have it. And you know, if if it’s an area that maybe we need to kind of do some extra, like maybe throw down some seed or something. Yeah. But that’s that’s the job that we have. It’s like, hey, let’s get out there and get these farmers to be safe from these old orphan wells so that nobody’s tripping over them. Knock on. Debra Wold [00:14:54] Wood. Rey Treviño [00:14:55] That’s really the worst thing that that that, you know, that can happen to a lot of these wells. Don’t keep any type of liquid or ooze or anything like that. This old oil wells that. No. What he has been able to find or that nobody’s been able to take care of for years. And so, you know, what I really tell them is, hey, guys, we’re just doing a great service to the communities that are out there because we’re most of these oil wells are in small communities that that people have forgotten. Debra. It’s like, you know, it’s like, you know, these are the type of communities that you hear about when they say they only show up every four years. Debra Wold [00:15:31] Yeah, yeah. Rey Treviño [00:15:31] It’s like, you know what? They they’re just as important to the farmers. To the ranchers. They’re part of the backbone of America, along with the truckers, the pipeline owners, the will and gas industry, you know, so they’re very important. So that’s the other part that we’re trying to tell people out there on the environmental side is, hey, guys, we’re just here to do a great job. Exactly. Long term solutions for everybody pointing a finger right now. Debra Wold [00:15:56] And that’s very commendable what you’re doing because you’re absolutely right. God forbid there’s an accident because someone had a, you know, an orphaned. Well, that’s they just discovered, right? A child running out in the field, whatever it may be. And actually, what you’re doing is more than other people are doing, too. You’re looking out for the person who is not as economically affluent as others. Right. Thank you. That, to me is a really good selling point when addressing anybody because you’re not going after the big echelon, right? You’re not going into the municipalities that are, you know, S&P rated, Triple-A rated bond market, right? You’re going into the smaller mom and dad hometown communities and you’re really, really making a difference. And this is a narrative that really needs to get out with what you’re doing. And our company would love to support you whenever, where we can. You know, I’m so glad that you were sharing this on the podcast too, and have whatever we can do. You know, folks out there you need to understand get behind what Ray and his family are doing. It’s very important for corporations, for individuals, for bond holders, whomever, because what Ray is doing, he’s making an impact in our world plus the environment for future generations. And that’s what we’re all about, right? The reclamation is not just the land, it’s the people that live on the land. Right. So that we can continue this generational reclamation going on because new inventions, right, are always going to come along like you said. But the key is how do we manage them? And you guys really socially responsible. So well done to you guys. Rey Treviño [00:17:26] Oh thank you. It’s it’s been fun and it’s you know, it’s still not over. And we got a long way to go. But, you know, God has blessed us with an amazing opportunity to be in the when gas industry. You know, again, I was at another event the other day and there was a bunch of people there from nuclear. And I’ll be, you know, honest as soon as I can figure out a way to make a dollar off a nuclear, I’m going to do it. Yeah. And if I could make a dollar off of wind and solar without it being government subsidies, I would do it in a heartbeat. You know, that’s the only way these wind farms and solar panel farms are making a dollars off the subsidies that they’re getting from the government. You look at what’s happening with Ford right now. They’re losing over, I think, $100,000 per easy. And I know the great David Blackmon has been talking about that. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I have done some research myself. And yes, he is definitely correct. And the only reason why they continue to roll those off a lot is because they’re getting money from the government. And so, you know, I was taught a long time ago by my father that, you know, you don’t need the government to get it. You know, we know the government handouts. And once you get to a place that you can start helping others, you definitely have to do that. And, and I think you, you know, just, hopefully brings joy to your heart to help others and given in return, you know, that’s the whole point to it. You want to you know, I think the real act of love is just showing love and not expecting anything in return. Debra Wold [00:18:53] I 100% agree with you because really, that’s what we’re made out of. That’s the way God created us, number one. And number two, when you pay it forward for somebody else, it always comes back to you. It’s like a boomerang, right? It goes out to bless other people, and then it comes right back to you. And the key thing is to what you’re doing is so important because it hits so many buttons. You know it. It brings it almost like niche. The fossil fuel industry with the renewable, without having that fossil fuel is sustainable on its own in the market. It’s obvious. Right? Right. Renewable in some ways are not. But there is technology out there where it is sustainable on its own merit, right? Rey Treviño [00:19:31] Yes, ma’am. Debra Wold [00:19:32] And all of us working together can accomplish that. So what’s your next step? What are you looking for and what what are your next steps? What you’re doing. Rey Treviño [00:19:40] Right. No. Great. Right now our next steps. We’re definitely looking for individuals that want to definitely donate to the to the cause. And because again this is all just straight donations. And they all go basically right back out to go plug Orphan Wells. And what we’re doing is we’re basically confiscating orphan wells. And I’m just using confiscating to sell stuff, you know. Debra Wold [00:20:01] Yeah, yeah. Rey Treviño [00:20:02] But what we’ll do, we’ll pick up these orphan wells or these orphan leases. Yeah. And then we’re literally just going. Going in. Count how many wells there are and going, okay, this is how many wells we need to plug, so this is how much it costs. Let’s go do the job. And so that’s literally what we’re doing right now. So we’re definitely, you know, get to starting the spread to get the word out. Tell people about energy remediation of America. Definitely want to you know put that in Google and you can definitely find the website. And you know, definitely, definitely give in. If you got any questions, definitely reach out to me or anybody on our team that that you’ve probably seen out on social media before. We are all here and it’s all hands on deck. We need to make sure that we’re all clean, happy and in a beautiful world in 50 years. Debra Wold [00:20:48] That is absolutely fantastic. So your organization is nonprofit, is that correct? Rey Treviño [00:20:52] Yes, ma’am. It’s a nonprofit. That is correct. Debra Wold [00:20:55] That is very key investors and other people who are interested in getting involved, that can be a benefit for you as well. So there is that payback, right. But you’re doing good works, but you also benefit from it as well. So it’s actually threefold clean the environment. Yes doing good works makes you feel good inside. Blessing God, blessing other people. And then also too there’s like kickback not kickback, but there’s a benefit, you know, for being a non for profit and supporting that. But it’s a win win win. It’s a trifecta win. Rey Treviño [00:21:23] I love it every look at you I love it. I’m gonna start using that one. Debra Wold [00:21:27] Like I know it will. Rey Treviño [00:21:28] Be good for your soul and good for your taxes. I love you. Don’t have to use that one. Debra Wold [00:21:34] Oh, wonderful. Wonderful. All right. Is there anything else you want to add in? Because we would love to help you all and support you wherever we can. Rey Treviño [00:21:41] No. Deborah, I am just so excited for you right now. And in this show and you you’ve mentioned podcast several times on this show and podcast. You know, I, I started one a couple years ago. The career and podcasting is going to be it is the new way. There’s no it’s going to be it’s a new form of news as long as we can. As long as I know I will, and I know you will. And other great people like that sandstone Group, which is a great podcasting, team. Like they got the energy news be daily. They’ve got this transition. But anyway, when you bring facts to your podcast that really helps. People aren’t getting their news anymore from the the big media corporation. They’re going to podcast, they’re going to the source. They want to talk to the actual people, not these people that are in New York City all day long. And, so I just want to wish you nothing but success on this company, a podcast. And thank you so much for having me. Debra Wold [00:22:41] Oh, and and our honor and our pleasure. You are such an engaging guests. We appreciate you so much. We appreciate the information you brought to us. Now, how can people find you in their websites? Rey Treviño [00:22:51] Yes. No, definitely. You are definitely on the social media bandwagon. I’m trying to get better, but, definitely LinkedIn. Rachel near the third, then our Pecos country.com. That’s where our oil and gas operating group is at. And you can definitely, connect with us there as well. Debra Wold [00:23:08] Fantastic. And I’m sure we’re going to have your information in our note. Yes. So I thank you so much, Ray. It has been a delight and a pleasure and looking forward to the next one. And what great things you have in store. Rey Treviño [00:23:19] Yes, ma’am. Thank you so much. Debra Wold [00:23:21] All right, everybody, thank you again for joining us. We really appreciate it. There will always be trash but not rainbows and unicorns. So stay tuned for the next podcast. Thanks again. Have a great day.