Burgum will be Trump’s energy czar in addition to leading Interior Department

In addition to leading the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) will also serve as a broad energy coordinator across the federal government, President-elect Trump announced Friday.

“I am thrilled to announce that Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota, will be joining my Administration as both Secretary of the Interior and, as Chairman of the newly formed, and very important, National Energy Council,” Trump said in a statement.

He said that this new council will include “all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy.” 

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump added. 

He said that in this role, Burgum will also have a seat on the White House’s National Security Council.

In the new statement, Trump said that at Interior, Burgum will “be a key leader in ushering in a new ‘Golden Age of American Prosperity’ and World Peace.”

Burgum briefly mounted his own presidential bid this cycle before dropping out and endorsing Trump. He was among the contenders to be Trump’s vice president.

Trump has praised Burgum’s energy acumen in the past, saying earlier this year that Burgum “probably knows more about energy than anybody I know.”

As North Dakota governor, Burgum was at the helm of a major fossil-fuel producing state. North Dakota is third-in-the-nation for oil production and seventh for coal production.

While leading the state, Burgum said he hoped to reach net-zero emissions. But he said the state could get there not by cutting back its use of planet-warming fossil fuels but rather by reducing and offsetting its emissions through use of carbon capture technology.

This emerging technology could be promising in helping polluting plants reduce emissions, but critics have questioned whether it actually delivers the emissions reductions it promises and raised concerns about the safety of pipelines that transport the carbon for storage. 

CNBC reported earlier this year that Burgum leases farmland to oil company Continental Resources and has collected $50,000 in royalties since 2022. Continental’s executive chairman is Trump ally and donor Harold Hamm

Burgum, like many of Trump’s appointees, has been a vocal defender of the president-elect during his hush money trial.

— Updated at 4:26 p.m.