Senate Democrats, DOI’s Burgum Trade Blows Over Renewable Energy

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum came to the Senate Energy Committee again this week, and Democratic Senators traded barbs with him about which forms of energy should be promoted and said the Trump administration and this DOI had their thumb on the scale for fossil fuels as opposed to renewable energy.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said permits for renewable energy projects were being slow walked.

“If permitting reform is a priority, then the permitting system must be allowed to work,” he said, adding that he felt a thumb was being placed on the scale.

At issue was an April 21 decision from a U.S. District Judge from the Massachusetts District Court, which gave a preliminary injunction filed by several clean energy groups for relief from federal pauses on permitting, as well as to put wind and solar power projects under an extra three layers of scrutiny.

Heinrich said these policies were designed to blow new renewable energy projects from coming online, and asked Burgum if he would comply with the judge’s order. Burgum said he disagreed with this decision.

“The solicitor’s office will respond to any active litigation, but as I said, we disagree with this,” Burgum said.

Heinrich said if Burgum wants members of the Democratic caucus to support permitting reform, then they have to know that DOI is merely calling balls and strikes. 

“That confidence does not exist right now, Mr.  Secretary,” he said.

Burgum said: “I would say I would be thrilled if there was going to be unanimity about not having a thumb on the scale because we just came out of four years of that, and as we try to get back onto a balanced—”

Heinrich said, interjecting, “Both sides are likely to say that their side had their thumb on the scale. Or here, their side had a thumb on the scale. Let’s make this a system where you can’t do that.”

“I think that would be fantastic,” Burgum said. “I would love to have your support to do that, but to be clear on this court order, it just is absurd to me that a court would say that we can’t review projects. That’s basically what it says.”

“You can review projects, but at some point, you have to make a decision. We’ve got six projects that have undergone the entire review,” Heinrich said. “They’re all just lacking your signature. That’s not review. That is by definition slow walking.”

Later, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, said the single largest factor getting in the way of the permitting process working smoothly was Burgum.

“I want to share with you that, as someone who has been involved with these [permitting reform] discussions for ten years that … the most significant obstacle to getting that done is you. It’s your role, as Sen. Heinrich said, putting the thumb on the scale of solar and wind projects, that are sitting on your desk,” King said. “There will be no permitting reform until this administration decides it’s going to stop allowing one side to go forward and not the other.”

King went on to agree that Burgum had a point about President Biden’s administration playing favorites with renewables, but added that this is all the more reason to stop playing one side of the energy debate against the other and having a more holistic approach.

“It would really help if you would move those permits that are sitting on your desk. That would be a gesture of good faith,” King said, adding that if the DOI does not comply with court orders, he would have to believe that DOI would not comply with Congressional statutes either.

King also said the president’s “illegal war in Iran” was dramatically affecting energy affordability for ordinary people, and only served to illustrate the importance of getting less reliant upon fossil fuels.

“We can produce all the oil and gas we want, but as you well know, the price of oil is not set in Maine or North Dakota or Texas. It’s set on a worldwide basis, and that is what we are suffering from now.” King said.

Burgum said having secure supply chains is essential, but said more wind and solar would not make energy more affordable. King said wind and solar were some of the cheapest sources of energy available today.

“I disagree. We have no ability to dispatch wind and solar, so if you’re going to have wind and solar as part of the mix and prematurely shut down baseload — every state that has a renewable target has electricity prices that are about 50% higher than average,” Burgum said.

King said baseload power should not be retired early. He pointed out that Burgum’s home state of North Dakota has about 35% wind energy in its generation mix, and is also investing in battery energy storage.

“This is happening all over the country. The expansion of battery capacity over the last 18 months has been fantastic, so the idea that wind and solar can’t be baseload — they are baseload with enough battery capacity, and that is coming even in North Dakota,” Burgum said.