Trump's energy 'dream team': Chris Wright and Doug Burgum's potential to-do list

Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy and President-elect Trump's pick to lead the Department of Energy, faces his confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Trump has vigorously promised to revive the industry in his second term, with his catchphrase "Drill Baby Drill" referencing oil drilling in the U.S. to restore the country's energy independence, and Wright will be charged with this task. 

"He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas," Trump's statement said in announcing Wright. "Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics."

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Already, tensions are flaring between the outgoing Biden administration and Trump after the president placed a permanent ban on new oil and gas drilling across U.S. coastal and offshore waters in an area that spans about 625 million acres. The Biden administration also announced new standards for gas water heaters that Trump criticized as even "worse" than the oil drilling ban.

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"One other thing he did yesterday, which in many ways was worse – it's hard to believe it can be worse – he wants all gas heaters out of your homes and apartments. He wants them to be replaced by essentially electric heaters. I don't know what it is with electric, this guy loves electric," Trump said last week during his Mar-a-Lago press conference. 

"We're going to be ending the electric car mandate," he added as he bounced from criticizing Biden's support for green energy to extolling the virtues of gas heaters and showers without water flow restrictors. 

The following day, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's nominee for secretary of the Department of Interior, said he will also head up a new National Energy Council, which "which will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy."

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In reaction to the selections last November, American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard said the combination of Burgum and Wright "is literally the dream team."

Trump made energy independence and bolstering oil and gas production a cornerstone of his campaign. While on the campaign trail, he pledged to expand fracking and lift a pause on liquefied natural gas exports, a sharp contrast from the Biden administration.

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The president-elect has also vowed to use his second White House term to exit the Paris climate accord again, undo strict emissions standards for vehicles and power plants, and bolster production of U.S. oil and gas, including through fracking.

Those planks on his energy platform appear to align well with the priorities of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which released a policy roadmap in an open letter to the incoming president and Congress last year, listing top priorities to address in 2025 and beyond aimed at securing American energy leadership.

API President and CEO Mike Sommers told FOX Business in November there are specific actions the administration can take to right the ship in Trump’s second term.

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"As governor of a top production state, Doug Burgum has demonstrated a keen understanding of the importance of harnessing America’s energy advantage," Sommers said. "We look forward to working with him once confirmed to implement a pro-American approach to federal energy leasing, starting with developing a new five-year offshore leasing program and removing barriers to onshore leasing to fully leverage our nation’s natural resources."

Sommers said API also looks forward to working with Wright once he is confirmed "to bolster American geopolitical strength by lifting DOE’s pause on LNG export permits and ensuring the open access of American energy for our allies around the world."

API’s five-point policy plan outlines the industry's priorities for the administration and the Republican-controlled House and Senate, including:

Protecting consumer choice

• Repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) tailpipe rules
• Repeal the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards
• Deny/rescind EPA’s Waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule

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Bolstering America’s geopolitical strength

• Lift the Department of Energy's (DOE) LNG permitting pause
• Swiftly process all pending export applications now languishing at DOE
• Ensure the open access of American energy to global markets

Leveraging our natural resources 

• Issue a new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management five-year offshore leasing program
• Repeal restrictive onshore leasing rules, starting with the Bureau of Land Management Conservation and Landscape Health Rule
• End EPA’s methane fee that misinterprets congressional intent and does little beyond increasing the cost of production for American oil and natural gas

Reforming our permitting system

• Reform the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)
• Reform the Clean Water Act
• Advance judicial reform
• Repeal the Biden-era NEPA rules

Advancing sensible tax policy

• Retain the 21% corporate tax rate to ensure global competitiveness
• Maintain and extend tax provisions for domestic infrastructure investment
• Preserve crucial international tax provisions

Billionaire energy executive Harold Hamm, Continental Resources founder and chair, told FOX Business' Maria Bartiromo that Biden has always been anti-energy. 

"To tell the truth, he's had a war against oil and gas for all of his existence. In the Senate and right through his presidency, so that's who he is. So, thank God we have leadership coming in that knows how to accelerate, expedite exploration in this country," Hamm said. 

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FOX News' Chris Pandolfo, Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.

* This article, originally published on 11/19/24, has been updated.