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Trump Announces Department of Energy Choice

Rick Perry
Rick Perry

Published Dec 14, 2016 6:03 PM by The Maritime Executive

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated former Texas governor Rick Perry to lead the U.S. Department of Energy as Secretary of Energy.

Perry, 66, has served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force and graduated from Texas A & M University. He made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency before supporting Trump in the latest election.

Prior to his nomination, Perry said he would like to abolish the Department of Energy, reports U.S. media, along with the Department of Commerce and the Department of Education. Perry currently sits on the board of Energy Transfer Partners, the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard welcomed nomination and called on Perry to make LNG exports a top priority.

“The United States is leading the world in the production and refining of oil and natural gas and in the reduction of carbon emissions, which are near 20-year lows,” said Gerard. “In order to continue our nation’s leadership on these important issues, we need to pursue policies that put certainty back into the regulatory process.

“As the former governor of Texas, Rick Perry knows the important impact that energy production has on our nation’s economy. In his new role at the Energy Department, he has the opportunity to encourage increased exports of domestically produced natural gas.

“We look forward to working with Governor Perry in his new role, the new administration and the new Congress on smart energy policies that benefit American consumers, American workers and the environment.”

The Natural Resource Defense Council says: “President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet choices get more frightening every day:

•    Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head up the EPA, who has a long history of climate denial and attacking the very agency he will now manage.
•    ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. Tillerson isn't just a friend of Big Oil - he is Big Oil.
•    Former Texas Governor Rick Perry to lead the Department of Energy - another climate denier who has vowed to abolish that agency, but couldn't even remember its name during a campaign debate.”

With these nominations, Trump is sending a message loud and clear: he wants a government that will do the bidding of polluters, not the American people,” says the Council.