Doug Burgum confirmed as Secretary of the Interior with the support of the Senate Democrats

The Senate confirmed Doug Burgum As Secretary of the Interior, on Thursday night after President Trump took advantage of North Dakota’s billionaire to lead the ambitions of the Republican Administration to boost the production of fossil fuels.

The vote was 79-18. More than half of the Senate Democrats joined the 53 Republicans to vote for Burgum.

Burguito68, is a businessman from the Ultra Rico software industry that came from a small agricultural community of North Dakota, where he worked at his family’s grain elevator.

It served two periods as governor of the state rich in oil and launched a presidential campaign in 2023, but retired months later and Quickly backed Trump.

Trump also chose Burgum to preside over a new National Energy Council That has the task of achieving the American “energy domain”. He would have a seat in the National Security Council, the first for the Secretary of the Interior.

Its directive of Mr. Trump is to make it even easier for energy companies to take advantage of fossil fuel resources, including public lands. That gave alarms among environmentalists and some democrats such as fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions bake the planet.

Burgum anxiously helped the energy industry during his time as governor, when he was also benefiting from the lease of family land to oil companies, according to the records obtained by Associated Press.

During his confirmation hearing, Burgum said that the United States can use energy development as leverage to promote peace and reduce consumer costs.

He followed concerns about the reliability of renewable energy sources promoted under former President Joe Biden, and said that the United States needs to generate more electricity from sources such as coal and nuclear that can constantly work.

Democrats in response accused the Trump administration of abandoning an energy policy “all of the above” to favor fossil fuels.

“They said the wind is dead on the coast. They are trying to do everything possible to create coal demand, fossil gas,” said Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Shatz, during a speech on Thursday’s floor.

Wyoming Senator John Barraso, the second -ranking Republican in the Senate, said Burgum would legitimately prioritize energy innovation on regulation.

“It will take the common sense action of unlocking our lands for oil and gas production,” said Barraso. He added that more than 600,000 acres of land in Wyoming have been approved for energy production, but that the Biden administration did not offer development.

Currently, the United States produces more crude oil than any nation in history, according to the administration of energy information. The most profitable technology in recent decades prompted the drilling omes in states, including New Mexico, Texas and Dakota del Norte, where the large expansions of rural culture lands have been industrialized by oil and gas companies.

The Auges brought billions of dollars in tax revenues to state and federal governments. But burning these fuels is also unleashing immense volumes of carbon dioxide that scientists say that the planet is heating.

The Department of the Interior has jurisdiction over half a billion federal land acres and vast areas on the high seas. These areas produce around a quarter of the American oil annually.

The Secretary of the Interior also supervises the National Parks Service, the United States Fishing and Wildlife Service, the Office of Indigenous Affairs, the Office of Land Management and other Sub -Sub -agencies.

Burgum happens to Debe Haland, who under Biden sharply reduced sales of oil and gas and promoted solar and wind projects in federal lands.

Trump made the energy development a centerpiece of his first term and again promises to abolish the restrictions to the industry that aims to protect the environment and public health.

Burgum, during his hearing earlier this month before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, suggested to legislators that fossil fuels carbonxide could be captured to neutralize their contribution to global warming.

Carbon capture skeptics say that technology has not been tested on a scale and allows the fossil fuel industry to continue largely unchanged, even when climate change becomes increasingly urgent.

During Haaland’s mandate in the Department of the Interior, officials also reversed the actions taken during Trump’s first mandate that weakened the protections for endangered species while facilitating private developers to follow public land projects.

Republicans in Congress have said they plan to search again for changes in the rules in endangered species and want Burgum to help.

Burgum says that federal lands can be used for many purposes, including recreation, felling and production of oil and gas that local economies can lift.

“Not all federal land acres are a national park or a wild area,” he told legislators.