Doug Burgum’s Close Ties to Fossil Fuel Industry Raise Red Flags for His Roles as Interior Secretary, “Energy Czar”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 16, 2024)-North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has been announced as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of the Interior (DOI), as well as his so-called "Energy Czar," a newly created role with authority to coordinate energy policy across the entire federal government. Gov. Burgum is a close ally of the fossil fuel industry and helped organize the infamous dinner at Mar-a-Lago where Trump solicited $1 billion in campaign donations from oil and gas executives.

Below is a statement by Julie McNamara, the Deputy Policy Director with the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

"By elevating Gov. Burgum, an avowed fossil fuel loyalist, to coordinate the whole of the nation's energy policy and steward its public lands, President-elect Trump is attempting to force the scale-up of fossil fuels in every part of our economy, using every tool available. Yet science continues to demonstrate how fossil fuel driven climate change threatens lives and wreaks havoc on our economy.

"The stewardship of public lands and the coordination of our nation's energy policy must be premised on the best-available science, which unequivocally identifies the need for a rapid shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy alternatives. During the first Trump administration, UCS catalogued 29 attacks on science by political appointees within DOI as they repeatedly attempted to sideline inconvenient facts. Gov. Burgum must be held to account for preserving independent science within DOI and across the government, as well as continuing long overdue efforts toward ensuring Tribal sovereignty, self-determination and prosperity.

"As governor of a state rich in wind resources, Gov. Burgum knows well that wind is now cheaper than fossil fuels and that solar energy is the fastest growing electricity source in the nation. We're at a crossroads in our transition to a clean energy and clean transportation economy. We must move forwards, not backwards, if we want to be global leaders. Increasing emphasis on outdated fossil fuels will only make our country less competitive, less resilient and force working class Americans to bear the costs on our health, climate and wallets. In the end, the "Energy Czar" and the DOI administrator must be someone who stands up for the present and future interests of the public, not the wealth and power of fossil fuel executives."

Additional UCS resources

• Position on a Fossil Fuel Phaseout
• Accelerating Clean Energy Ambition: How the US Can Meet its Climate Goals While Delivering Public Health and Economic Benefits, 2023 report
• Attacks on Science database
• Science Under Siege at the Department of the Interior, 2018 report
• The State of Science in the Trump Era, 2019 report