WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Energy Department announced it overhauled an advisory board tasked with ensuring a strategic and safe approach to national energy development.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said a 19-member board would help steer the department during his tenure.
"Having a diverse set of voices around the table will ensure that the department has a strategic approach to the nation's energy, science, nuclear security and environmental stewardship future," he said in a statement Monday.
Moniz is leading an energy department mulling its oil and natural gas future. Production gains are such the United States is less reliant on foreign reserves and contemplating natural gas exports. This year, the department held its first-ever lease for offshore wind energy development.
The advisory board includes former government officials and academic experts. Notable names include ConocoPhillips Chief Technology Officer Ram Shenoy, Founder of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Daniel Yergin and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft.
The board was formed in 1990 to serve as a third-party adviser to the energy secretary and meets quarterly. Online U.S. political newspaper The Hill reports the board was dismantled under former President George W. Bush but revived during the first term of President Obama.
