Zeldin, Burgum, Take on Daunting Roles in the 2nd Trump Term

President-elect Donald Trump has set Washington, DC afire over the past week with a series of controversial picks for cabinet-level offices and other senior advisory positions. The senate confirmation hearings for nominees like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard are destined to be must-see TV, events to which congress could help cut the federal deficit by airing in pay-per-view format.

But the nominees announced thus far whose offices have the biggest impact on energy policy are likely to be among the least controversial announced so far. Those would be former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin to head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to be Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI). While many would assume the Secretary of Energy would be the cabinet position to wield the most power to regulate energy companies, the reality is that these other two positions are far more impactful.

For the oil, gas, and coal industries, no part of the federal government possesses greater authority to regulate their business than DOI, which oversees all leasing, mining, drilling and minerals production related to federal lands and waters. The US government is the largest landowner in the country, owning large percentages of the lands in the Intermountain west under which some of the biggest domestic reserves of these mineral resources exist. Specific regions of these western states are also prime locations for wind and solar development.