Trump’s energy team: Chris Wright, Doug Burgum top to-do list

Chris Wright, Founder and CEO of Liberty Energy and President-elect Trump His confirmation hearing will be held on Wednesday, which will be chaired by the Department of Energy.

Trump has vowed strongly to revitalize the industry in his second term with his catchphrase “Drill Baby Drill,” a reference to oil drilling in the U.S. to restore the country’s energy independence, and Wright will be leading the charge.

“He has worked in the nuclear, solar, geothermal and oil and gas industries,” Trump said in a statement announcing Wright. “Most importantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American shale revolution that fueled America’s energy independence and transformed global energy markets and geopolitics.”

Chris Wright (Andy Cross/Denver Post via Getty Images/File)

Already, tensions are escalating between the outgoing Biden administration and Trump after the president placed a permanent ban on new oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal and offshore waters of about 625 million acres. The Biden administration also announced new standards for gas water heaters. which Trump criticized as even “worse” than the oil drilling ban.

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“He did another thing yesterday that was worse in many ways. it’s hard to believe it could be worse. he wants all the gas heaters out of your houses and apartments. He wants them replaced with mostly electric heaters. I don’t know what it is about electricity, this guy loves electricity,” Trump said last week – Lago during his press conference.

“We’re going to end the electric car mandate,” he added, as he jumped from criticizing Biden’s support for green energy to extolling the virtues of gas heaters and faucet-free bathtubs.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on January 7, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

the next day, Governor of North Dakota. Doug BurgumTrump’s nominee for interior secretary said he will also lead a new National Energy Board, which “will be made up of all departments and agencies involved in permitting, generating, producing, distributing, regulating, transporting and ALL forms of American energy.”

Then-candidate former President Trump speaks with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)

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In response to the election last November, American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard said the combination of Burgum and Wright is “literally a dream team.”

Trump has gained energy independence and strengthened oil and gas production a cornerstone of his campaign.On the campaign trail, he promised to expand fracking and lift the freeze on liquefied natural gas exports, in stark contrast to the Biden administration.

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The president-elect also promised to use his second White House The deadline for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, repeal strict vehicle and power plant emissions standards and boost U.S. oil and gas production, including through fracking.

President-elect Donald Trump (Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images/File)

Those planks in his energy platform appear to align well with the priorities of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which last year released a policy road map to the incoming president and Congress outlining key priorities for America’s energy leadership in 2025 and beyond :

API President and CEO Mike Somers said FOX Business: in November, there are concrete actions the administration can take to right the ship for Trump’s second term.

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“As the governor of a leading manufacturing state, Doug Burgum has demonstrated a deep understanding of the importance of harnessing America’s energy advantage,” Somers said. by developing a new five-year plan for offshore leasing and removing barriers to onshore leasing to fully exploit our country’s natural resources for”.

Somers said API also looks forward to working with Wright once he is confirmed to “strengthen American geopolitical power by lifting the DOE freeze on LNG export permits and ensuring open access to American energy for our allies around the world.”

API’s five-point policy plan outlines industry priorities for the administration and the Republican-controlled House and Senate, including:

Protection of consumer choice

• Repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) tailings regulations
• Repeal the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s corporate average fuel economy standards
• Deny/Revoke EPA’s Waiver of California’s Advanced Clean Vehicle Rule II

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Strengthening America’s geopolitical power

• Lift the Department of Energy’s (DOE) LNG permit moratorium
• Expeditiously process all pending export applications now languishing at the DOE
• Ensure open access for American energy to global markets

Using our natural resources

• Launch a new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management five-year offshore leasing program
• Repeal restrictive rules on coastal leasing, beginning with the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health Rule.
• End the EPA’s methane fee, which misconstrues congressional intent and does little more than raise the cost of American oil and natural gas production.

Reforming our permissions system

• Reform the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)
• Reform the Clean Water Act
• Progress in judicial reforms
• Repeal the Biden-era NEPA rules

Advancing sensible tax policies

• Maintain the 21% corporate tax rate to ensure global competitiveness
• Maintain and expand tax provisions for domestic infrastructure investment
• Comply with important international tax provisions

Billionaire energy executive Harold Hamm, founder and chairman of Continental Resources, told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that Biden has always been anti-energy.

“To be honest, he’s been waging war on oil and gas his whole life. So he is. So thank God we have a leadership that knows how to expedite this.” in the country,” said Hamm.

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FOX News’ Chris Pandolfo, Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

* This article, originally published on 11/19/24, has been updated.