Trump's energy 'dream team': Chris Wright and Doug Burgum's potential to-do list
President-elect Trump's energy czars, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, will have their confirmation hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.
Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy and President-elect Trump's pick to lead the Department of Energy, faces his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Trump has vigorously promised to revive the industry in his second term, with his catchphrase "Drill Baby Drill" referencing oil drilling in the U.S. to restore the country's energy independence, and Wright will be charged with this task.
"He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas," Trump's statement said in announcing Wright. "Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics."
Already, tensions are flaring between the outgoing Biden administration and Trump after the president placed a permanent ban on new oil and gas drilling across U.S. coastal and offshore waters in an area that spans about 625 million acres. The Biden administration also announced new standards for gas water heaters that Trump criticized as even "worse" than the oil drilling ban.
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"One other thing he did yesterday, which in many ways was worse – it's hard to believe it can be worse – he wants all gas heaters out of your homes and apartments. He wants them to be replaced by essentially electric heaters. I don't know what it is with electric, this guy loves electric," Trump said last week during his Mar-a-Lago press conference.
"We're going to be ending the electric car mandate," he added as he bounced from criticizing Biden's support for green energy to extolling the virtues of gas heaters and showers without water flow restrictors.
The following day, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's nominee for secretary of the Department of Interior, said he will also head up a new National Energy Council, which "which will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy."
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In reaction to the selections last November, American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard said the combination of Burgum and Wright "is literally the dream team."
Trump made energy independence and bolstering oil and gas production a cornerstone of his campaign. While on the campaign trail, he pledged to expand fracking and lift a pause on liquefied natural gas exports, a sharp contrast from the Biden administration.
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The president-elect has also vowed to use his second White House term to exit the Paris climate accord again, undo strict emissions standards for vehicles and power plants, and bolster production of U.S. oil and gas, including through fracking.
Those planks on his energy platform appear to align well with the priorities of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which released a policy roadmap in an open letter to the incoming president and Congress last year, listing top priorities to address in 2025 and beyond aimed at securing American energy leadership.
API President and CEO Mike Sommers told FOX Business in November there are specific actions the administration can take to right the ship in Trump’s second term.
"As governor of a top production state, Doug Burgum has demonstrated a keen understanding of the importance of harnessing America’s energy advantage," Sommers said. "We look forward to working with him once confirmed to implement a pro-American approach to federal energy leasing, starting with developing a new five-year offshore leasing program and removing barriers to onshore leasing to fully leverage our nation’s natural resources."
Sommers said API also looks forward to working with Wright once he is confirmed "to bolster American geopolitical strength by lifting DOE’s pause on LNG export permits and ensuring the open access of American energy for our allies around the world."
API’s five-point policy plan outlines the industry's priorities for the administration and the Republican-controlled House and Senate, including:
Protecting consumer choice
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Bolstering America’s geopolitical strength
Leveraging our natural resources
Reforming our permitting system
Advancing sensible tax policy
Billionaire energy executive Harold Hamm, Continental Resources founder and chair, told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo that Biden has always been anti-energy.
"To tell the truth, he's had a war against oil and gas for all of his existence. In the Senate and right through his presidency, so that's who he is. So, thank God we have leadership coming in that knows how to accelerate, expedite exploration in this country," Hamm said.
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FOX News' Chris Pandolfo, Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
* This article, originally published on 11/19/24, has been updated.
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