Bloomberg – Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a onetime rival of Donald Trump in the Republican primary, will be nominated by the president-elect as energy secretary, joining other cabinet picks considered friendly to the oil industry.
As the longest-serving governor in Texas, Perry, 66, was an advocate of “American energy,” and oversaw a state that is a powerhouse in both fossil fuels and renewables. It is the nation’s biggest producer of oil and, thanks to a wave of turbine installations, has the capacity to generate more wind energy than any other state.
Perry’s selection puts the vast Energy Department in the hands of a man who once vowed to shut it down, but famously forgot the agency’s name during a presidential debate. Trump’s latest pick also angered environmentalists and some Democrats in Congress including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, who said Perry “is an anti-science, climate change denier” and would favor special interests over health and safety.
Trump said in a statement he was swayed by the Texas governor’s tenure in office during which Perry “created a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he will bring that same approach to our entire country as Secretary of Energy.”
“My administration is going to make sure we take advantage of our huge natural resource deposits to make America energy independent and create vast new wealth for our nation,” Trump said.
Rick Perry is a realist and a decision maker. He’s not an academic so we may finally get some decisiveness in a department that has been historically riddled with turpitude and inefficiency. This is a great choice by Trump and it should be a quick and easy confirmation.
Image Source: GOP
