Monday, December 12, 2016

Rick Perry?

What does Rick Perry know about national energy?
Donald Trump has narrowed his search for energy secretary to four people, with former Texas Governor Rick Perry the leading candidate.

[...]

[Perry] serves on the board of Energy Transfer Partners LP, the company whose pipeline project has drawn opposition in North Dakota and has become a rallying cry from environmentalists. While the Obama administration has stalled the project, Trump has said federal approvals for energy infrastructure need to come quicker.

[...]

People familiar with the president-elect’s selection process said two Democratic senators from energy-producing states -- Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia -- are also in the mix, along with Ray Washburne, a Dallas investor and former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

If Trump picks any of the four he’ll break with recent tradition of putting scientists at the top of the Energy Department.

  Bloomberg
Well, that's the point, isn't it? Scientists often have minds of their own.

What is Perry doing on the pipeline company board? Could it be because of his contacts in oil rich Texas from his governor days? Or is this part of the game of "stay tuned" that Trump often puts in his Tweets?  Perry is at least a nod to the pipeline people that Trump, unlike Obama, is going to be their good friend.

And remember this:
Perry, in a 2011 Republican primary debate, famously forgot that the Energy Department was one of the three federal government agencies he wanted to eliminate.
I often wonder if Trump's cabinet picks will come and go as quickly as his campaign staff did.

And, speaking of pipelines...

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

No comments: