CAP VP for Energy Policy Greg Dotson on Nomination of Rick Perry as Energy Secretary

December 14, 2016

Washington, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Center for American Progress Vice President for Energy Policy Greg Dotson issued the following statement on the nomination of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to be the next secretary of energy:

Last week, President-elect Donald Trump chose to make climate denial the face of the Environmental Protection Agency. Early this morning, he chose to make the oil industry the face of American diplomacy. Today, he will nominate former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to run the U.S. Department of Energy, an agency that Perry once proposed abolishing.

Gov. Perry—similar to President-elect Trump, Scott Pruitt, and several other cabinet nominees—thinks climate change is a hoax. He has said it is “all one contrived phony mess” that is the product of a “secular carbon cult.” This anti-science stance alone should disqualify Gov. Perry from leading the federal agency that conducts fundamental scientific research on advanced energy technologies. It also calls into question his qualifications to manage the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal and oversee cleanup of nuclear waste sites that are the legacy of the Manhattan Project.

The secretary of energy is responsible for overseeing the nation’s critically important investments in science and energy and the stewardship of the nation’s nuclear stockpile. Gov. Perry has failed to show the vision or experience necessary to manage these important responsibilities.

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