Early reads on Trump's new energy team

• And if confirmed, Interior Department pick Doug Burgum will chair a new National Energy Council and sit on the National Security Council.

A few early takeaways...

What's old is new. The council and Burgum's role have roots in recent history.

• President Biden put climate envoy John Kerry on the NSC, albeit with very different goals.
• Early in George W. Bush's first term, VP Dick Cheney led an energy task force focused on fossil fuel supply.
• The new body will seek U.S. "energy dominance" by cutting red tape, boosting private finance and using innovation over rules, Trump officials said Friday.

Wright's a climate contrarian. He doesn't dispute human-caused climate change but says fossil fuels massively benefit human well-being.

• Wright says "there is no climate crisis," and his views on risk contradict the scientific mainstream on harms from global warming.
• Terms like "dirty energy" drive policymakers to oppose "life-critical infrastructure," including in poor, developing nations, he argues.

Wright is also kind of a Rorschach test. He's not well known in Beltway policy circles. His interests go beyond oil and gas, too.

• Wright is on the board of nuclear startup Oklo, and Liberty has invested in geothermal startup Fervo Energy as the sector uses tech pioneered by oil companies.

It all matters because he'll be influential. The Energy Department is a massive funder of climate science and clean energy research — programs likely facing new constraints and priorities.

• DOE controls billions of dollars in grant funds and loan authority under the IRA — a law Trump opposes.

• Look for it to resume approving LNG export licenses.
• The department doesn't regulate oil and gas production directly, but Wright will be on the new energy council as Trump 2.0 looks to expand development.

Oil-on-oil tensions could loom. The WSJ calls Wright aligned with a "pugnacious" wing of independent companies with a more anti-regs posture than the majors.

• Unlike Exxon, Occidental and some other giants, these players aren't looking to tap IRA incentives for CO2 capture and more.

Keep an eye on data centers. The announcement of Burgum and the energy council vows a "battle for A.I. superiority."

• Don't be shocked if Trump officials look to ensure massive AI data centers can easily access gas-fired power.

Whither coal? Trump 1.0 talked plenty about coal, but the long-term decline kept going on his watch.

• The new personnel rollouts name-checked oil, "drill baby drill" and "other valuable minerals and resources" but don't explicitly mention coal.