@cspanofficial: The Senate easily confirmed Doug Burgum as the new Interior secretary in a 79–18 vote on Thursday. The former North Dakota governor, who vowed to help carry out President Trump’s vision for American “energy dominance” during his confirmation hearing, earned the support of the majority of Democrats. “The American people have clearly placed their confidence in President Trump to achieve energy dominance,” Mr. Burgum told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this month. “We live in a time of tremendous, tremendous abundance, and we can access that abundance as Americans by prioritizing innovation over regulation.” Mr. Burgum, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination before endorsing Mr. Trump, said he valued conservation but that government efforts that hamper energy production posed a national security risk. “When energy production is restricted in America it doesn’t reduce demand,” he told senators. “It just shifts productions to countries like Russia and Iran, whose autocratic leaders don’t care at all about the environment, but they use their revenues from energy sales to fund wars against us and our allies.” He said he viewed America’s public lands and waters as valuable commodities on the U.S.’s “balance sheet,” and that while “some” of it should be protected, most could be mined or drilled to raise revenues and pay down the national debt. “The rest of it, this is America’s balance sheet,” he said. “If we were a company, they would look at us and say, ‘Wow, you are really restricting your balance sheet.’” Watch the Senate debate and vote at c-span.org #dougburgum #interiordepartment #energy #senate #cspan

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Friday 31 January 2025 00:25:02 GMT