Doug Burgum is now at the center of American energy and climate policy. In addition to tapping the North Dakota governor as Interior Department chief, President-elect Donald Trump today picked him to fill a new energy czar position. That could give the wealthy former software executive sweeping influence over federal agencies to advance Trump’s energy agenda, writes Heather Richards. Trump said in a statement that the proposed National Energy Council that Burgum will helm “will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy.” Burgum takes on the roles at a time when the technology industry’s voracious energy demand for AI-driven data centers could further strain the electric grid and upend U.S. climate goals. Burgum was elected North Dakota governor in 2016 and made oil and natural gas production a priority. If confirmed by the Senate, Burgum — who had a short-lived campaign for president this year — would oversee a sprawling department of roughly 70,000 employees that manages the nation’s public lands and its vast energy resources, write Heather, Mike Soraghan and Shelby Webb. While North Dakota ranks third in the nation for production of crude oil, it does not include much federal land or minerals. Less than 4 percent of the state is federally managed. Burgum’s affinity for fossil fuels and lack of conservation experience has enraged environmentalists. Kierán Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said Burgum will “sacrifice our public lands and endangered wildlife on the altar of the fossil fuel industry’s profits.” Still, Burgum’s energy views differ somewhat from Trump’s stance that climate change is a “hoax.” While he largely avoids the topic of what is primarily driving climate change (answer: human activity), Burgum has pledged to make North Dakota carbon-neutral by decade’s end. His strategy for achieving that goal is using carbon capture and storage technology, which the Biden administration is also betting on to meet its climate targets. Under Burgum’s leadership, the Environmental Protection Agency granted North Dakota the primary responsibility for overseeing specialized underground wells in which to inject carbon dioxide — the first state to win that right. And North Dakota is the endpoint for an $8 billion carbon pipeline project to transport CO2 from Midwest ethanol plants. Plus, Burgum has also advocated hydrogen energy. In contrast, Trump has slammed hydrogen-powered cars as prone to exploding. For a deeper dive into Burgum’s record on energy, working with Tribal communities and conservation, check out this story by Heather, Scott Streater, Jennifer Yachnin and Hannah Northey.
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