Trump names Interior-designee Doug Burgum to head new White House council on energy

Trump appoints Burgum to lead National Energy Council, aiming for U.S. energy dominance and reversing Biden's climate policies.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday (November 15, 2024) that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, his choice to head the Interior Department, will also lead a newly created National Energy Council that will seek to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world.

“Mr. Burgum, in his new role, will oversee a panel that crosses all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. As chairman of the National Energy Council, Mr. Burgum will have a seat on the National Security Council, Mr. Trump said.

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation," Mr. Trump wrote.

The Republican president-elect accused the “radical left” of engaging in a war on American energy, in the name of fighting climate change. His policy of energy dominance, which he also espoused during his first term, will allow the U.S. to sell oil, gas and other forms of energy to European allies, making the world safer, Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump's policies, if adopted, would represent a near-complete reversal from actions pursued by Democratic President Joe Biden, who has made fighting climate change a top priority and has pushed for more electric vehicles and stricter regulation of carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Mr. Trump has pledged to rescind unspent funds in Mr. Biden’s landmark climate and health care bill and stop offshore wind development when he returns to the White House in January.

Mr. Trump, who has called oil “liquid gold," said oil and natural gas, along with minerals such as lithium and copper, should be exploited to the maximum extent possible. “We will “DRILL BABY DRILL," expand ALL forms of Energy production to grow our Economy, and create good-paying jobs,'' Mr. Trump wrote.