Trump Picks Doug Burgum, A Big Oil Shill, For Interior Secretary

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — President-elect Donald Trump has announced North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum — a climate skeptic who served as a liaison between the Trump campaign and oil company executives — as his choice for the Secretary of Interior.

Burgum will spearhead the Trump administration’s plans to open federal lands and waters to new oil and gas drilling, fulfilling Trump’s campaign mantra of “Drill, drill, drill” at a time of increasingly brutal heat waves, record storms and flooding, and the warming of ocean waters resulting from climate change.

“Governor Burgum, 68, has longstanding ties to fossil fuel companies and acted as a liaison between the Trump campaign and the oil executives who have donated heavily to it,” the New York Times reported. “The governor is particularly close to Harold G. Hamm, the billionaire founder and chairman of Continental Resources, one of the country’s largest independent oil companies, who has donated nearly $5 million to Mr. Trump since 2023.”

The state where Burgum serves as Governor, North Dakota, ranks third in the nation, after Texas and New Mexico, in both crude oil reserves and production.

Trump made the announcement during an America First Policy Institute gala held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Thursday evening, according to the Times.

“I won’t tell you his name — it might be something like Burgum,” Trump told the crowd. “Actually, he’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.”

Environmental groups blasted Trump’s pick.

“By picking Burgum, President-elect Trump is taking the first step toward unleashing a wave of oil and gas drilling on our public lands,”: said Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen in a statement. “The Interior Secretary is entrusted with protecting our shared lands and waters, now and for future generations, but Governor Burgum is poised to prioritize reckless development above all else. We can’t double down on drilling and habitat loss in the face of runaway climate change and extinctions. We stand ready to go to court to protect our wildlands and waters from extractive industries and safeguard the interests of Tribal communities threatened by development they oppose.”

“It was climate skeptic Doug Burgum who helped arrange the Mar-a-Lago meeting with wealthy oil and gas executives where Donald Trump offered to overturn dozens of environmental rules and regulations in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contribution,” stated Ben Jealous, Sierra Club Executive Director. “If that weren’t disqualifying enough, he’s long advocated for rolling back critical environmental safeguards in order to let polluters profit.”

“Doug Burgum’s ties to the fossil fuel industry run deep and, if confirmed to this position, he will surely continue Donald Trump’s efforts to sell out our public lands to his polluter pals. Our lands are our nation’s greatest treasure, and the Interior Department is charged with their protection. The Sierra Club and its millions of members and supporters across the country will do everything in our power to stop Donald Trump and Doug Burgum’s fossil fuel agenda, and preserve our wild and special places,” he concluded.

Manish Bapna, President and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), also slammed Trump’s pick in a statement:

“The Interior Department is charged with protecting public lands that cover one-fifth of the country, national parks used by nearly 320 million visitors each year and federal ocean waters. The Secretary is also entrusted to honor federal trust obligations for DOI-administered Indian lands. Our public lands are a public trust. We depend on the Department of the Interior to protect our wildlife and habitat, national monuments to our history and culture and the natural splendor of this country. We will hold the incoming administration to account for this mission.

“Trump has made no secret of his Project 2025 plan to open more public lands and ocean waters to the dangers of oil and gas drilling. That's the wrong direction for the country. Now he’s tapped someone with close ties to the oil and gas industry to spearhead the scheme.

“It’s time to reduce, not expand, the public lands, ocean waters and coastal communities exposed to the catastrophic risk and ongoing harm of oil and gas drilling. It’s time to protect wildlife, habitat and communities from cascading climate disasters ranging from rising seas to raging wildfires, storms and floods. It’s time to tackle the alarming decline of fish and wildlife across this country and make the nation’s public lands and ocean waters part of the climate solution, not part of the problem.”

During the previous Trump administration, Ryan Zinke served as Interior Secretary in the first two years and David Bernhardt in the second two years. Before taking the position, Bernhardt was a lobbyist for the Westlands Water District, the largest water district in the nation, and the oil industry. A coalition of fishermen, environmentalists, Tribes, family farmers, business owners and environmental justice advocates in California strongly opposed his policies that increased water deliveries to c

orporate agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley at great expense to imperiled Central Valley salmon and Delta smelt populations.

The U.S. Department of the Interior “protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and affiliated Island Communities,” according to the agency’s mission statement.

The agency has 70,000 employees, 280,000 volunteers and 2,400 operating locations.

Top photo from Photo by David Brown via Pexels