Op-Ed: Dan Eberhart: Energy realism and dominance are behind Donald Trump’s cabinet picks
America is in the driver’s seat in global oil and gas markets...
President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections to run federal energy policy signal his intent to extend America’s “energy dominance” during his second term in office. While some argue that the United States, which has been the world’s largest oil and gas producer since 2018, has already achieved that impressive feat, thanks largely to the shale boom of the past 15 years, more can be done to unleash U.S. energy production.
After four years of the Biden administration, which prioritized alternative energy and tackling climate change while treating traditional fossil fuels as an unfortunate necessity, there is ample room for Trump to elevate America’s standing in global energy markets further.
Trump named Gov. Doug Burgum (R., N.D.) as both his Interior Secretary and as his “energy czar,” handing him sweeping authority to open federal lands to frackers and to deregulate agencies to boost U.S. oil and gas output. He later picked as his Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a shale executive who had been promoted by shale pioneer and Trump energy advisor Harold Hamm for months.
The top priority for the incoming administration is to solidify and enhance America’s role as the top player in global oil and gas markets, so that all the hard work the industry has done this century to achieve energy independence can’t be undone.
At the top of the agenda are plans to withdraw the United States, again, from the Paris climate agreement, to allow drillers into Alaska’s wildlife reserves, and to unleash fossil fuels output further by unwinding burdensome regulations.
America is in the driver’s seat in global oil and gas markets, more powerful than Russia, Saudi Arabia and the other big oil exporters in the OPEC+ cartel. The idea is to keep it this way — and to extend our lead.
Burgum and Wright are the right men for their jobs because they understand the U.S. energy industry intimately. Whereas Biden appointed a“climate czar” with John Kerry, Burgum’s role will be similar — but focused on fossil fuels, where he will be at the heart of government-wide decision making.
As governor of North Dakota, one of the largest oil-producing states in the country thanks to the Bakken Shale formation, Burgum will immediately help America shed its image of climate change fanatic under Biden by making decisions rooted in what’s best for the American economy and national security.
The days of empowering dictators abroad in the Middle East and in Russia by hamstringing America’s own oil and gas sector will mercifully come to an end when Trump’s energy team assembles in Washington next year.
Wright, who founded oilfield services giant Liberty Energy in 2011, will also sit on Burgum’s new National Energy Council, where members will slash red tape and push other agencies to do the same.
These two officials will work with federal agencies to streamline permitting, reduce regulations, and get out of the way of private sector energy innovation. As head energy advisers to Trump, they are likely to dissuade the White House from using state power to prop up favored clean energy industries to ensure a level, competitive playing field for all energy sources in the marketplace.
Through legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, the Department of Energy has received billions of dollars in new funding, which have been directed toward Biden’s pet projects, mostly favoring non-fossil alternative energy technologies. Biden’s Energy Department also paused approvals of new projects that export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Expect both policies to be reversed under Wright on his first day on the job.
Wright will reduce red tape and rethink the spending priorities of the Energy Department, whose budget reached nearly $50 billion in 2024.
At the Interior Department, Burgum will get a chance to reset oil and gas leasing policy on federal lands. The department facilitates oil and gas leasing and manages mineral extraction and renewable energy development on federal lands. In his first week in office, Biden paused new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, a policy that remained in place until lawsuits reversed it in April 2022. Even so, oil and gas leasing dropped to an all-time low under Biden.
That’s about to change dramatically.
With approximately 12 percent of the nation’s oil production and 11 percent of its natural gas production happening on federal lands, Burgum will play a large role in shaping U.S. energy policy over the next four years. Holding quarterly leases for oil and gas and working with Congress to reduce regulations will fall under his mandate.
Both Wright and Burgum embrace an “all of the above” energy approach that favors free market principles over subsidies. Roughly 55 percent of North Dakota’s electricity comes from coal and 36 percent from wind power, illustrating how Burgum has refused to play favorites in the new vs. traditional energy debate. As North Dakota has remained a large oil producer, it has also adopted net-zero greenhouse gas goals that will be accomplished through a mix of carbon capture and sequestration and hydrogen fuel.
In addition to being Liberty’s CEO, Wright is a board member of Oklo, an advanced nuclear energy company specializing in microreactor designs.
While some of Trump’s cabinet selections have shocked and raised questions, there should be no trouble with confirmations for Trump’s energy picks. Burgum and Wright are known to be competent executives that prioritize energy realism, market-led innovation, and deregulation, which is a winning combination for taxpayers and consumers.
Dan Eberhart is the CEO of Canary, one of the largest oilfield service companies in the country.
