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Rick Perry formally announced as Trump's pick for energy secretary Trump picks oil-drilling proponent Rick Perry as energy secretary
(about 1 hour later)
US president-elect Donald Trump has formally announced Rick Perry as his choice to lead the US department of energy. The US president-elect, Donald Trump, has formally named the former Texas governor Rick Perry to lead the Department of Energy, adding to the list of oil-drilling advocates sceptical about climate change filling out his cabinet selections.
If the nomination is confirmed by the Senate, the move would put the former Texas governor and Trump’s one-time presidential rival in charge of a federal department that he had proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The choice of Perry, first disclosed on Monday, is likely to further worry environmentalists concerned about the incoming Trump administration’s impact on the climate, while an eager energy industry ready for expansion welcomes the selection.
Perry’s name adds to the list of oil-drilling advocates sceptical about climate change who have been picked for senior positions in Trump’s cabinet. He has proposed lighter regulation on the oil industry, and has said the science around climate change is “unsettled”. In a statement from Trump’s transition team, the president-elect cited Perry’s tenure leading Texas, a leading oil-producing state and the nation’s second most populous one, from 2000 until 2015.
Trump’s selections have worried environmentalists but cheered an oil industry eager for expansion. “Rick Perry created … a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he will bring that same approach to our entire country as secretary of energy,” Trump said in the statement.
Trump has also chosen first-term Republican US Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy Seal commander, as his interior secretary, a senior transition official said on Tuesday. Perry, a one-time presidential rival of Trump who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination in 2016 and 2012, welcomed the planned nomination to serve under Trump, who takes office on 20 January.
He is a proponent of keeping public lands under federal ownership, putting him at odds with some in his Republican party who are more favourable to privatisation or placing them under the control of states. His selection is the latest indication that Trump may be friendly towards the fossil fuel industry even as an overwhelming majority of scientists believe carbon dioxide emissions from burning oil, gas and coal are a significant contributor to global climate change, causing higher sea levels, drought and more frequent violent storms.
It remains unclear where Zinke would stand on opening up more federal lands to increased drilling and mining, something Trump promised he would do as president. On Tuesday, Trump named Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of the oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp, as his secretary of state. Trump’s pick for the Environmental Protection Agency is the Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, an ardent opponent of the Democratic president Barack Obama’s measures to curb climate change.
Perry’s proposal to scrap the energy department caused embarrassment during a November 2011 debate when he could not remember all the cabinet-level departments he wanted to eliminate. If Perry’s nomination is confirmed by the US senate, the move would also put the Texan in charge of a federal department that he had proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
“It’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: commerce, education and the, um, what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” Perry said. His debate opponents tried to prod his memory but Perry ultimately gave up, saying, “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” The department is responsible for US energy policy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Perry has advocated lighter regulation on the fossil fuel industry, and has called the science around climate change “unsettled”.
Perry, who also briefly ran in the 2016 presidential race, served as governor of Texas, a leading oil-producing state, from 2000 when he succeeded President George W Bush, until 2015. In his unsuccessful presidential runs, he touted his record of job creation in the second-most-populous state. He is also on the board of directors for Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, which has been stalled by protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters.
Perry was a fierce critic of Trump last year before dropping out of the race, calling him “a cancer on conservatism” who offered “a toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense”. Trump’s team has said it will review the decision to delay the pipeline’s final completion once he takes office next month.
Trump also had harsh things to say about Perry during the campaign, even belittling his glasses by saying: “He put on glasses so people will think he’s smart.” Once Trump secured the nomination, Perry endorsed him as “the people’s choice”.
In a statement from Trump’s transition team, the president-elect cited Perry’s tenure leading Texas.
“Rick Perry created … a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he will bring that same approach to our entire country as secretary of energy,” Trump said.