Burgum will become Trump’s ‘Energy Czar’
President-elect Donald J. Trump said Friday that Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota, his pick to lead the Interior Department, will also serve as the administration’s point person to coordinate energy policy across the federal government.
In that role, Mr. Burgum will be charged with carrying out Mr. Trump’s vision of an administration that ramps up fossil fuel production while chipping away at environmental regulations.
Mr. Burgum will “chair the newly formed and very important National Energy Council, which will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the licensing, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation of ALL forms of U.S. energy, Mr. Trump wrote in a statement.
“This Council will oversee the path to America’s energy dominance by cutting red tape, increasing private sector investment across all sectors of the economy, and focusing on INNOVATION rather than longstanding, but totally unnecessary regulation,” he wrote.
The position was inspired by President Barack Obama and President Biden, Democrats who have created “climate czars” in the White House, said people close to Trump’s transition team, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly to discuss.
These climate advisors took a “whole-of-government” approach to ensure that all federal agencies would make efforts to reduce the use of global-warming coal, oil, and gas and to accelerate the use of wind and solar energy and electric vehicles .
Mr. Trump’s energy czar is expected to have similar powers — but essentially the opposite mandate.
“The White House should have someone overseeing energy policy because it covers almost all federal agencies,” said Thomas J. Pyle, chairman of the American Energy Alliance, a conservative energy research group that has contributed to shaping Trump’s first term. energy agenda. “Obama and Biden have set many precedents. It is an effective model.”
The energy czar’s policy directive is reminiscent of the White House Energy Task Force overseen by Vice President Dick Cheney during the George W. Bush administration, which aimed to ensure that fossil fuels become primary energy “years down the line.” of the country and that the federal government would focus on increasing the supply of fossil fuels, rather than limiting demand.
Scientists have said the United States and other major economies must stop developing new oil and gas projects to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of global warming. Burning oil, gas and coal is the main cause of climate change.
The current year looks set to be the hottest on record, and researchers say the world is on track for dangerous levels of warming this century.
Mr. Trump has long argued that using government levers to boost extraction and consumption would lower the costs of gasoline and electricity and ripple through the economy to drive down the costs of transportation, housing, food and other commodities.
Most economists say energy prices are determined by global markets, not the actions of the U.S. government.
And the question is how much more oil and gas companies would produce under different policies. The United States already produces more oil than any other country in history, despite the Biden administration’s climate efforts.
Oil producers are also wary of an oversupply in the market, which could drive down prices and profits.
“I’m less optimistic about this than they are,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who headed the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and now heads the American Action Forum, a conservative research organization, on the impact of an “energy czar” stance. “I don’t think we’ll see a dramatic impact anytime soon.”
Mr. Pyle noted another feature of the White House “czar” position that will likely appeal to Mr. Trump: While the work and correspondence of officials in federal agencies are subject to government transparency laws, including requests from the Freedom of Information Act, from the White House czars, has more legal protection against these demands.
“The advantage is that they don’t have to be so transparent,” he says.
