FUEL ON THE HILL
Energy pick Perry: I erred in wanting to abolish agency
Rick Perry expressed “regret” during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for once recommending elimination of the Department of Energy, the agency Donald Trump has tapped him to run.
“My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking,” Perry told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. “In fact, after being briefed on so many of the vital functions of the Department of Energy, I regret recommending its elimination.”
When Perry, the former governor of Texas, ran for president in 2012, he called for elimination of three departments — Commerce, Education and Energy.
But in an embarrassing presidential-debate gaffe, he began to list the three agencies and forgot one — the Department of Energy.
Unable to remember the last agency he’d eliminate, Perry could only say, “Oops.”
In another reversal, Perry told the hearing, “I believe the climate is changing. I believe some of it is naturally occurring, but some of it is also caused by manmade activity. The question is: How do we address it in a thoughtful way that doesn’t compromise economic growth.”
He also said he’s certain there’s a way to make coal a climate-friendly fuel.
“I will suggest that sometimes we get siloed in our thinking and we go: It’s either-or. And so, it’s ‘coal’s bad, keep it in the ground,’ ” he said.
“The fact is, I am certain — I feel positive — that some scientist, some incredibly capable man or woman . . . has technology to be able to use coal in a way that is friendly, that is appropriate.”
During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to bring back coal jobs after rival Hillary Clinton famously declared at a town hall in Ohio that she would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business” to protect the climate. She later apologized. There was a light moment at Perry’s confirmation hearing involving Democratic Sen. Al Fran- ken of Minnesota. The awkward — and comical — exchange came when Franken said to Perry, “Thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?”
“I hope you are as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch,” Perry responded.
The crowd in the Senate hearing room burst into laughter — and Franken began shaking his head.
“May I rephrase that, sir?” Perry interjected, suddenly realizing the connotation of his re- mark and laughing himself.
“Please, please, please,” Franken implored. “Oh, my lord.”
“Well I think we found our ‘Saturday Night Live’ sound bite,” Perry told Franken, a former “SNL” writer and performer.