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Doug Burgum touts Trump's plan for 'energy dominance' to Senate panel

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum testifies during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine his expected nomination to be secretary of the Interior, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI
1 of 6 | North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum testifies during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine his expected nomination to be secretary of the Interior, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee he will seek energy dominance during his confirmation hearing on Thursday.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of the Interior Department has thrown his support behind an "all of the above" approach to energy production. He expanded on those plans during the three-plus hour hearing.

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"The American people have clearly placed their confidence in President Trump to achieve energy dominance," Burgum told the committee in his opening statement. "And by energy dominance, that's the foundation of American prosperity, affordability for American families, and unrivaled national security."

After Burgum alluded to national security, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, pressed him on the threat posed by climate change. She recounted past secretaries of defense who have cited climate change as a serious and "critical" threat to national security. One secretary of defense she quoted directly was James Mattis, Trump's first nominee for the position in 2017.

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"Were you aware that they testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on a number of times that burning more fossil fuel is actually going to not result in the end of wars, but the very well exacerbating cause wars?" Hirono asked.

Burgum insisted that carbon capture technology is adequate enough to curb the issues related to burning fossil fuels.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., asked Burgum for his position on attaching conditions to federal disaster relief. This is in light of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., saying Congress should attach conditions on aid to California amid the deadly wildfires that have killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

"I think each situation would vary," Burgum said before offering condolences to the victims of the Los Angeles County wildfires.

As governor, Burgum requested and received federal disaster relief from President Joe Biden without conditions in response to wildfires in northwest North Dakota. Padilla said there have never been "strings attached" to disaster relief.

If confirmed, Burgum would lead several agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service. Deb Haaland currently serves in this role.

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Burgum would then hold authority over public lands and waters. He said Thursday that extracting resources from those lands would be useful in bringing down the national debt and fixing the U.S. "balance sheet." He said the Department of the Interior has authority over 500 million acres of surface land, 700 million acres of subsurface and 2 billion acres that are untouched lands offshore.

He singled out tribal lands as "assets" that would be especially beneficial for the United States to mine for natural resources.

"We've got to get going. We got to cut red tape," he said. "We got to realize that if you shut down U.S. energy production here, it doesn't help the global environment. That's a false trade-off."

During his opening statement, he said his relationship with the tribes of North Dakota while he was governor have "sometimes been challenged" but the current relationship with tribes and the state is strong.

Burgum challenged President-elect Donald Trump in the Republican primary before quickly bowing out and endorsing him. Trump refers to Burgum as his pick for White House "energy czar."

Trump has also selected Burgum to chair the National Energy Council, a new advisory board Trump plans to commission.

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The hearing began on Capitol Hill at 10 a.m. EST.

The hearing was originally slated for Tuesday but Burgum's financial disclosure and ethics agreement, among other documents, were not received by committee Democrats, prompting a delay.

"Being selected to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior is an incredible honor and an enormous responsibility, and I'm deeply grateful to President Trump for this opportunity to serve the American people in such a broad capacity," Burgum said in a statement after being nominated.

After challenging Trump in the primary, Burgum was reportedly on the shortlist as a potential running mate, a position that ultimately went to J.D. Vance.

During his primary campaign, Burgum echoed Trump's energy policies, supporting relaxing regulations and pursuing more fossil fuel usage.

Burgum is a tech entrepreneur who sold a software business to Microsoft.

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