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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At his Senate confirmation hearing last Thursday, Doug Burgum, former North Dakota governor, pledged to implement President-elect Donald Trump's vision of energy dominance if confirmed as Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) (Washington, D.C.).
The three-hour confirmation was pleasant and cordial, with members from both aides of the aisle praising Burgum. Unlike the confirmation hearings for Energy Secretary last Wednesday, there were no disruptions from the audience. No senator challenged the incoming president's promise to achieve "energy dominance."
Invoking Theodore Roosevelt's advice to "speak softly and carry a big stick," Burgum said: "Energy dominance can be America's big stick to be leveraged for our benefit of our children and grandchildren. When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn't reduce demand. It just shifts productions to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders don't care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies."
"The U.S. produces cleaner, smarter and safer energy" than anyone," he added.
The DOI manages roughly one-fifth of the lands and waters of the U.S., giving Burgum significant leverage to increase domestic oil and gas production on those public lands. The sprawling agency also oversees national parks and monuments, endangered species protections and relations with federally recognized Native American tribes.
Electing to curtail energy development posed a risk to U.S. national security, he told the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. But when the secretary-nominee spoke of "energy development," he made it clear that he was speaking about oil and gas development. Burgum said nary a word about renewable energy development, except to highlight the risks it poses: "The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow."
He acknowledged that energy storage could mimic the benefits of baseload electric generation, but he quickly added that energy storge was not yet competitive with other forms of electric generation. "We are years away from cost-effective energy storage solutions," he said. "We want affordable energy."
He congratulated Sen. Marrtin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), the panel's ranking Democrat, for his state's ability to balance oil and gas development with protection of local communities and preservation of outdoors amenities. New Mexico recently passed North Dakota to become the nation's second-largest producer of oil and gas, after Texas. "Local consultation is the key to finding solutions that balance the interests" of all stakeholders, Burgum said.
Responding to a question from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) about the Biden administration's "slow walking" permits for coal mines, Burgum said: "This is part of a larger crisis our nation faces around electricity. Without baseload (generation), we lose the (artificial intelligence) arms race to China, and that's got to impact our national security."
Burgum, governor of oil-rich North Dakota for eight years, several times connected energy security with national security in his Thursday testimony. "We're in a cold war and a cyber war with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea," he said. "We need baseload (electric generation) to power AI technologies that are key to winning conflicts with those nations, he asserted.
Burgum did not dispute Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) characterization of President-elect Trump's view that "energy dominance will end wars" and that the incoming president wants to "massively increase the burning of fossil fuels." He sidestepped her question about prior defense secretaries saying climate change would lead to more armed conflict.
In implementing President-elect Trump's exhortation to "drill, baby, drill," Burgum said he would follow the law and the Constitution. Though no senator asked about the level of new oil production Trump sought, informal estimates of 3 million barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) of new production have been circulating among industry and GOP elected officials.
Despite complaints from Republican members of the panel that President Joe Biden has "illegally" restricted oil production on public lands, the U.S. has become the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas during the Biden administration, with oil production averaging 13.2 million BBL/d in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA estimated oil production will rise to an average of 13.5 million BBL/d in 2025 and 13.6 million BBL/d in 2026 under current laws and regulations.
Echoing sentiments voiced by Sen. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), Burgum told the panel, "We are in an energy crisis. The grid could go completely unstable" without new baseload electric generation using fossil fuels. "We could be just months away from having skyrocketing energy prices," largely because of lengthy delays in permitting new baseload generation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (Washington, D.C.) and regional transmission organizations.
"There's a seven-year queue at FERC for permits, and 95% of the permits being sought are for intermittent generation" like wind and solar. "More and more brownouts and blackouts will be coming" unless new baseload electric generation, burning fossil fuels, is built, he added. Undue reliance on renewable energy "could be how we lose this new cold war."
"As a nation, we may have tripped too far in one direction," Burgum continued in his discussion of the U.S. energy portfolio. "We need all of the above (forms of electric generation), and what we're short of is baseload generation." Tax incentives have created an "imbalance" of energy resources in favor of renewable resources and against fossil-fueled resources, he added, brushing aside a request from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that he speak with the president-elect about the virtues of wind energy.
A good bit of the three-hour hearing Thursday was devoted to Burgum's idea that the U.S. needs an energy asset inventory: The DOI manages 2 billion acres of offshore waters, 500 million acres of onshore land and 700 million acres of subsurface minerals, he said, yet nowhere are these assets assigned a dollar value.
Burgum, a business entrepreneur before becoming governor, said, "The federal balance sheet doesn't show these as assets. Yes, these assets could be hard to quantify, but we need to do that to better assess what we have as a nation and have an honest discussion" about energy."
The nominee sidestepped a suggestion from Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) that the Trump administration should make available federal disaster assistance without conditions: "Every situation is different," he told the senator from the fire-ravaged state.
Burgum did not speculate on what the widely discussed "National Energy Council" would entail or who would be a member, aside from the secretaries of Energy and Interior. But he did vow to follow the law in holding lease sales. He sharply criticized the Biden administration for not holding a lease sale for public lands in his home state for two years, finally forcing the state to sue the U.S. to abide by congressionally mandated lease sales. The outgoing administration's record on lease sales was "disgraceful, unpredictable and disruptive," he said: "Energy dominance means more smart development, not less."
Several times the nominee said "innovation was better, cheaper and safer" than regulation in finding ways to increase energy production and lower emissions. He also pledged that collaboration and innovation would play a significant role in revising and updating the Colorado River Compact, a century-old law allocating water from the Colorado River among seven Western states. That law expires at the end of 2026. "I will look for collaborative and innovative ways to use water," he said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The three-hour confirmation was pleasant and cordial, with members from both aides of the aisle praising Burgum. Unlike the confirmation hearings for Energy Secretary last Wednesday, there were no disruptions from the audience. No senator challenged the incoming president's promise to achieve "energy dominance."
Invoking Theodore Roosevelt's advice to "speak softly and carry a big stick," Burgum said: "Energy dominance can be America's big stick to be leveraged for our benefit of our children and grandchildren. When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn't reduce demand. It just shifts productions to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders don't care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies."
"The U.S. produces cleaner, smarter and safer energy" than anyone," he added.
The DOI manages roughly one-fifth of the lands and waters of the U.S., giving Burgum significant leverage to increase domestic oil and gas production on those public lands. The sprawling agency also oversees national parks and monuments, endangered species protections and relations with federally recognized Native American tribes.
Electing to curtail energy development posed a risk to U.S. national security, he told the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. But when the secretary-nominee spoke of "energy development," he made it clear that he was speaking about oil and gas development. Burgum said nary a word about renewable energy development, except to highlight the risks it poses: "The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow."
He acknowledged that energy storage could mimic the benefits of baseload electric generation, but he quickly added that energy storge was not yet competitive with other forms of electric generation. "We are years away from cost-effective energy storage solutions," he said. "We want affordable energy."
He congratulated Sen. Marrtin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), the panel's ranking Democrat, for his state's ability to balance oil and gas development with protection of local communities and preservation of outdoors amenities. New Mexico recently passed North Dakota to become the nation's second-largest producer of oil and gas, after Texas. "Local consultation is the key to finding solutions that balance the interests" of all stakeholders, Burgum said.
Responding to a question from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) about the Biden administration's "slow walking" permits for coal mines, Burgum said: "This is part of a larger crisis our nation faces around electricity. Without baseload (generation), we lose the (artificial intelligence) arms race to China, and that's got to impact our national security."
Burgum, governor of oil-rich North Dakota for eight years, several times connected energy security with national security in his Thursday testimony. "We're in a cold war and a cyber war with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea," he said. "We need baseload (electric generation) to power AI technologies that are key to winning conflicts with those nations, he asserted.
Burgum did not dispute Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) characterization of President-elect Trump's view that "energy dominance will end wars" and that the incoming president wants to "massively increase the burning of fossil fuels." He sidestepped her question about prior defense secretaries saying climate change would lead to more armed conflict.
In implementing President-elect Trump's exhortation to "drill, baby, drill," Burgum said he would follow the law and the Constitution. Though no senator asked about the level of new oil production Trump sought, informal estimates of 3 million barrels of oil per day (BBL/d) of new production have been circulating among industry and GOP elected officials.
Despite complaints from Republican members of the panel that President Joe Biden has "illegally" restricted oil production on public lands, the U.S. has become the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas during the Biden administration, with oil production averaging 13.2 million BBL/d in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook. The EIA estimated oil production will rise to an average of 13.5 million BBL/d in 2025 and 13.6 million BBL/d in 2026 under current laws and regulations.
Echoing sentiments voiced by Sen. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), Burgum told the panel, "We are in an energy crisis. The grid could go completely unstable" without new baseload electric generation using fossil fuels. "We could be just months away from having skyrocketing energy prices," largely because of lengthy delays in permitting new baseload generation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (Washington, D.C.) and regional transmission organizations.
"There's a seven-year queue at FERC for permits, and 95% of the permits being sought are for intermittent generation" like wind and solar. "More and more brownouts and blackouts will be coming" unless new baseload electric generation, burning fossil fuels, is built, he added. Undue reliance on renewable energy "could be how we lose this new cold war."
"As a nation, we may have tripped too far in one direction," Burgum continued in his discussion of the U.S. energy portfolio. "We need all of the above (forms of electric generation), and what we're short of is baseload generation." Tax incentives have created an "imbalance" of energy resources in favor of renewable resources and against fossil-fueled resources, he added, brushing aside a request from Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that he speak with the president-elect about the virtues of wind energy.
A good bit of the three-hour hearing Thursday was devoted to Burgum's idea that the U.S. needs an energy asset inventory: The DOI manages 2 billion acres of offshore waters, 500 million acres of onshore land and 700 million acres of subsurface minerals, he said, yet nowhere are these assets assigned a dollar value.
Burgum, a business entrepreneur before becoming governor, said, "The federal balance sheet doesn't show these as assets. Yes, these assets could be hard to quantify, but we need to do that to better assess what we have as a nation and have an honest discussion" about energy."
The nominee sidestepped a suggestion from Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) that the Trump administration should make available federal disaster assistance without conditions: "Every situation is different," he told the senator from the fire-ravaged state.
Burgum did not speculate on what the widely discussed "National Energy Council" would entail or who would be a member, aside from the secretaries of Energy and Interior. But he did vow to follow the law in holding lease sales. He sharply criticized the Biden administration for not holding a lease sale for public lands in his home state for two years, finally forcing the state to sue the U.S. to abide by congressionally mandated lease sales. The outgoing administration's record on lease sales was "disgraceful, unpredictable and disruptive," he said: "Energy dominance means more smart development, not less."
Several times the nominee said "innovation was better, cheaper and safer" than regulation in finding ways to increase energy production and lower emissions. He also pledged that collaboration and innovation would play a significant role in revising and updating the Colorado River Compact, a century-old law allocating water from the Colorado River among seven Western states. That law expires at the end of 2026. "I will look for collaborative and innovative ways to use water," he said.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
