Senate Committee moves Trump's energy & interior nominees to the floor

The U.S. Senate Energy Committee approved Donald Trump's nominees for the U.S. Department of Interior and Energy. The U.S. Senate energy committee approved President Donald Trump's picks to lead the United States on Thursday.

The panel approved former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as the U.S. Department of Interior's new director and for a national council on energy to be formed to increase oil and gas production.

The committee also approved Chris Wright, Energy Department's choice and CEO of oilfield service company Liberty Energy.

Next, the full Senate will consider the nominations. The Senate is currently controlled by Trump’s Republican Party. Wright will resign from Liberty if the Senate approves his nomination.

Burgum said that he would vigorously pursue the maximization of energy production on U.S. public land and waters. He called it a key element to national security. Burgum's remarks to lawmakers at his nomination hearing marked a significant shift in policy after Biden tried for years to limit drilling in order to combat climate change. He did this by reducing federal auctions and banning development in certain offshore waters.

Wright, who was at Liberty, believes that fossil fuels will be the solution to world poverty. This is a bigger problem than climate change, which he considers to be "distant".

Wright, in his nomination hearing Wright said that the wildfires which devastated Los Angeles were "heartbreaking", but remained true to his comments made on social media regarding wildfires. Wright stated on social media in 2023 that "hype about wildfires is only hype to justify" climate change policies.

Alex Padilla is a California Democrat Senator who voted against Wright. He said that his remarks regarding wildfires, and his refusal of retracting his statement, have "made me unable to support his nomination." (Reporting and editing by Timothy Gardner)

(source: Reuters)