tanaqui (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tanaqui) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisfinecrew2017-01-17 12:07 pm
tanaqui) wrote in thisfinecrew2017-01-17 12:07 pm
Entry tags:
Confirmation Hearings - Secretary of Energy: Rick Perry
Nomination hearing of the Honorable Rick Perry to be Secretary for Energy
When: Thursday 19 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – AK), Senator John Barrasso (R – WY), Senator James E. Risch (R – ID), Senator Michael S. Lee (R – UT), Senator Jeff Flake (R – AZ), Senator Steve Daines (R- MT),Daines, Senator Cory Gardner (R – CO), Senator Jeff Sessions (R – AL), Senator Lamar Alexander (R – TN), Senator John Hoeven (R- ND), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Ranking Member: Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Bernard Sanders (D – VT), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Al Franken (D – MN), Senator Joe Manchin (D – WV), Senator Martin Heinrich (D - NM), Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D – HI), Senator Angus King (I – ME), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D – IL), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: Despite its name, a large part of the Department of Energy's work is related to nuclear weapons: designing them, thwarting their proliferation, and ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation’s aging nuclear arsenal through "a constellation of laboratories considered the crown jewels of government science". About 60 percent of the Energy Department’s budget is devoted to the National Nuclear Security Administration, which defines its mission as enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. The previous two heads of the Department had doctorates in physics, a strong academic track record and a Nobel prize.
Rick Perry is a former governor of Texas, serving from 2000 to 2015. Prior to that, he was Texas agriculture commissioner and holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M University. During his time as Governor, most notably when running in the Republican presidential primaries in 2011, he repeatedly called for the Department of Energy to be eliminated. Given the remit of the department, former Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, who for years led the committee that oversees the Energy Department’s budget, called Perry's nomination "perplexing" and thinks he does not understand what the role involves.
However, Trump is also believed to be appointing Jay Martin Cohen, who studied marine engineering at MIT and served as a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, to be Perry’s undersecretary for nuclear security, which suggests at least an understanding by Trump's transition team that this side of the role should be covered by someone with more relevant expertise.
In addition, former Energy Secretaries from both Republican and Democrat administrations believe Perry could adapt, having run a big bureaucracy and with the focus of the department often driven by current events: from rolling blackouts in California and the Enron scandal in early 2001, to counter-terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation after Sept 11, and climate change initially under the Obama administration, followed by brokering the Iran Deal -- but with then Energy Secretary Stephen Chu "consumed with personally helping" to engineer a way to stop a blown BP well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico during 2010. This contrasts with Perry, who described the catastrophic spill an "act of God" and called for an end to the Obama administration’s moratorium on new deepwater drilling even after the extensive damage to the Gulf of Mexico caused by the spill became clear.
Perry's response to the BP well disaster highlights the major concern with his appointment, which is that he is a climate change denier, who will be happy to implement the anti-regulation and anti-environment agenda proposed by Trump during his campaign. (Early in the transition period, Trump's team asked the Department of Energy to identify staff who worked on projects or attended conferences relating to climate change.) While he doesn't have a history of working in the oil industry, his policies have supported the extraction of fossil fuels, including fracking. He also serves on the board of directors of Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the project near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, where a section of the project is currently on hold while the threat to drinking water is properly investigated, just one of many ways in which the project is in violation of federal laws.
Suggested script for calling representatives:Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Rick Perry as the next Secretary of Energy. Mr Perry has repeatedly called for the department to be eliminated, demonstrating he has no understanding of the vital work carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which accounts for more than half of the department's budget. He is also on record as a climate change denier, has advocated for a return to deep-water drilling after the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and is on the board of the company attempting to build the Dakota Access Pipeline, a project which is in violation of numerous federal laws. Mr Perry's ignorance about the work of the Department of Energy and his reckless disregard for the environment in his policies and business interests make him unsuited to leading the department and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of Energy
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
When: Thursday 19 January from 10:00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – AK), Senator John Barrasso (R – WY), Senator James E. Risch (R – ID), Senator Michael S. Lee (R – UT), Senator Jeff Flake (R – AZ), Senator Steve Daines (R- MT),Daines, Senator Cory Gardner (R – CO), Senator Jeff Sessions (R – AL), Senator Lamar Alexander (R – TN), Senator John Hoeven (R- ND), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Ranking Member: Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Bernard Sanders (D – VT), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Al Franken (D – MN), Senator Joe Manchin (D – WV), Senator Martin Heinrich (D - NM), Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D – HI), Senator Angus King (I – ME), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D – IL), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: Despite its name, a large part of the Department of Energy's work is related to nuclear weapons: designing them, thwarting their proliferation, and ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation’s aging nuclear arsenal through "a constellation of laboratories considered the crown jewels of government science". About 60 percent of the Energy Department’s budget is devoted to the National Nuclear Security Administration, which defines its mission as enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science. The previous two heads of the Department had doctorates in physics, a strong academic track record and a Nobel prize.
Rick Perry is a former governor of Texas, serving from 2000 to 2015. Prior to that, he was Texas agriculture commissioner and holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M University. During his time as Governor, most notably when running in the Republican presidential primaries in 2011, he repeatedly called for the Department of Energy to be eliminated. Given the remit of the department, former Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, who for years led the committee that oversees the Energy Department’s budget, called Perry's nomination "perplexing" and thinks he does not understand what the role involves.
However, Trump is also believed to be appointing Jay Martin Cohen, who studied marine engineering at MIT and served as a rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, to be Perry’s undersecretary for nuclear security, which suggests at least an understanding by Trump's transition team that this side of the role should be covered by someone with more relevant expertise.
In addition, former Energy Secretaries from both Republican and Democrat administrations believe Perry could adapt, having run a big bureaucracy and with the focus of the department often driven by current events: from rolling blackouts in California and the Enron scandal in early 2001, to counter-terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation after Sept 11, and climate change initially under the Obama administration, followed by brokering the Iran Deal -- but with then Energy Secretary Stephen Chu "consumed with personally helping" to engineer a way to stop a blown BP well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico during 2010. This contrasts with Perry, who described the catastrophic spill an "act of God" and called for an end to the Obama administration’s moratorium on new deepwater drilling even after the extensive damage to the Gulf of Mexico caused by the spill became clear.
Perry's response to the BP well disaster highlights the major concern with his appointment, which is that he is a climate change denier, who will be happy to implement the anti-regulation and anti-environment agenda proposed by Trump during his campaign. (Early in the transition period, Trump's team asked the Department of Energy to identify staff who worked on projects or attended conferences relating to climate change.) While he doesn't have a history of working in the oil industry, his policies have supported the extraction of fossil fuels, including fracking. He also serves on the board of directors of Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the project near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, where a section of the project is currently on hold while the threat to drinking water is properly investigated, just one of many ways in which the project is in violation of federal laws.
Suggested script for calling representatives:Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Rick Perry as the next Secretary of Energy. Mr Perry has repeatedly called for the department to be eliminated, demonstrating he has no understanding of the vital work carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which accounts for more than half of the department's budget. He is also on record as a climate change denier, has advocated for a return to deep-water drilling after the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and is on the board of the company attempting to build the Dakota Access Pipeline, a project which is in violation of numerous federal laws. Mr Perry's ignorance about the work of the Department of Energy and his reckless disregard for the environment in his policies and business interests make him unsuited to leading the department and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of Energy
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.