President-elect Donald Trump has set Washington, D.C., on fire over the past week with a series of controversial picks for cabinet-level positions and other senior advisory positions. Senate confirmation hearings for nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard have become must-see television, with Congress broadcasting them on pay-per-view to protect the federal finances. This will be an event that can help reduce the deficit. format.

But the candidate whose office will have the most influence on energy policy is likely to be the most controversial candidate announced so far. Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman, will be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will be the head of the Department of the Interior (DOI). While many would think that the Secretary of Energy is the Cabinet position with the most power to regulate energy companies, the reality is that these other two positions have far more influence. be.

For the oil, gas, and coal industry, no branch of the federal government has more authority to regulate its operations than the DOI, which oversees all leases, mining, drilling, and mineral production related to federal lands and waters. . The American government is largest landowner The country owns much of the land in the mountainous west, under which some of the nation’s largest reserves of these mineral resources reside. Certain areas of these western states are also ideal locations for wind and solar power development.

North Dakota is a state rich in mineral reserves and one of several states with a mix of federal, state, and private lands. As governor, Burgum had to deal with the same set of permitting, leasing, and mixed-use issues he would be tasked with overseeing at DOI. One of his main tasks will be to reinvigorate the federal leasing program, which has been dormant due to the current administration violating a series of laws and regulations. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haalanda long-time anti-development activist.

At the EPA, Mr. Zeldin will face the difficult task of bending a massive bureaucracy packed with direct hires from billionaire-funded climate change alarm groups to align with President Trump’s policies. It will be. One of Mr. Zeldin’s major immediate tasks will be to find ways to streamline the agency’s permitting process.

The agency’s slow permitting and delegation of powers is a bottleneck in achieving some of the plan’s carbon reduction targets. inflation control law (IRA), President Joe Biden’s signature bill. Unless a major rewrite or repeal of the IRA is likely, these goals will remain among Zeldin’s priorities when he takes office next year.

While the public perception of President Trump on energy and climate change focuses on its “drill, baby, drill” aspects, former President Trump abandoned the U.S.’s carbon-reducing coal during his first term. It is important to keep in mind that we do not guarantee or promise that: Please do that in the coming second semester. In fact, U.S. carbon emissions are fell significantly During President Trump’s last four years in office.

Mr. Zeldin and Mr. Burgum have also made it a top priority to review the vast amount of new regulations introduced by the Biden administration, which has led to more new pages in the Federal Register than any other president. It will work to repeal or amend a number of regulations. Of them. This is a difficult task that can prove overwhelming given the inevitable obstruction and pushback from career bureaucrats within these agencies and departments.

Given how President Trump’s overall policy is shaping up, Zeldin and Burgum say that at the same time as Trump’s goal of cutting jobs and even moving entire government agencies outside of Washington, D.C. , will be responsible for these management tasks. It will work with President Trump’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

All of this portends a period of upheaval and fundamental change, not just at EPA and DOI, but throughout the federal structure. We certainly live in interesting times, given that the United States’ system of governance was designed by the Founding Fathers to discourage radical change.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, specializing in public policy and communications.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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