Trump’s Nominees Bring Experience to Energy Issues

America’s energy policy is in for a major overhaul.

President-elect Trump announced this week the appointment of two key members to his cabinet relating to energy issues. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will serve as Secretary of Interior and Colorado businessman Christopher Wright was nominated as Secretary of Energy. Both must be confirmed by the Senate.

Burgum also will serve as the chair of the new National Energy Council, which will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation, of all forms of American energy and will, therefore, have a seat on the National Security Council, Trump said,

The National Energy Council will coordinate with federal agencies to advance American energy. “By establishing U.S. energy dominance, we can jumpstart our economy, drive down costs for consumers and generate billions in revenue to help reduce our deficit,” Burgum said.

Before entering politics, Burgum headed a software company, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2001 and has been in a variety of businesses until he was elected Governor in 2016.

Burgum ran for President but failed to gather enough support and closed his campaign in December 2023.

North Dakota is the third largest oil producing state behind Texas and New Mexico.

Christopher Wright is CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil field service company based in Colorado, but operates throughout the nation, especially in Texas and North Dakota.

Wright founded Pinnacle Technologies in 1992 during the very early days of the new technology entering the exploration of oil and natural gas through fracturing. He later formed Liberty Resources, an exploration and production company operating in North Dakota, which led to Liberty Energy.

Liberty Energy had $4 billion in annual revenues last year. It is a publicly traded company at $17 per share on Nov. 18 with a market cap of around $3 billion.

Alex Mills is the former President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.