By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate committees on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s choices to run energy and environmental policy – officials who, if backed by the full Senate, will seek to maximize fossil fuel output and scrap chunks of climate policy.
The panel voted 18-2 to approve former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum to lead the U.S. Department of Interior and a new national council on energy, expected to boost production of oil and gas.
The committee also voted 15-5 to approve Chris Wright, the Energy Department pick and the CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy.
In addition, the Senate environment committee voted 11-8 to approve former U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, Trump’s choice to run the Environmental Protection Agency.
The full Senate, which is controlled by Trump’s Republican party, will next consider the nominations.
Burgum has said he will vigorously pursue maximizing energy production from U.S. public lands and waters, calling it key to national security.
Burgum’s comments to lawmakers during his nomination hearing signaled a sharp turn in policy. Former president Joe Biden, as part of his efforts to tackle climate change, for years sought to limit oil and gas drilling by reducing federal lease auctions and banning future development in some offshore waters.
Wright believes fossil fuels are the key to ending world poverty, which is a greater problem than climate change’s “distant” threat, according to a report he wrote while at Liberty. He will step down from the company if approved by the Senate.
In his nomination hearing, Wright said the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles are “heartbreaking,” but stood by his previous comments on social media about wildfires.
In 2023 Wright said on social media that “hype over wildfires is just hype to justify” policies to curb climate change.
Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who voted against Wright, said his comments regarding wildfires and his refusal to retract his statement have “made it impossible for me to support his nomination.”
Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, said both Wright and Burgum have proved they are committed to carrying out Trump’s plan to “unleash American energy by ending the policies of climate alarmism and extremism.”
Zeldin often voted against legislation on green issues including a measure to stop oil companies from price gouging.
Zeldin said at his nomination hearing he believes climate change is real and a threat but that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is just authorized, not required, to regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
Zeldin would likely be tasked with carrying out several of Trump’s executive orders, including making recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget on “the legality and continuing applicability” of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding of 2009.
That finding, upheld by the Supreme Court, gives the EPA the authority to take measures to regulate those emissions.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Barbara Lewis)
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