Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a source close to the president-elect tells Reuters, putting him in charge of an agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
The choice of Perry adds to the list of oil-drilling advocates skeptical about climate change who Trump has picked for senior positions in his Cabinet, worrying environmentalists but cheering an industry eager for expansion.
The selection of Perry, who also had been mentioned as a candidate for agriculture secretary, was disclosed on Monday night after Perry met the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York.
The department is responsible for U.S. energy policy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Perry has advocated lighter regulation on the fossil fuel industry, and has called the science around climate change “unsettled.”
Perry’s proposal to get rid of the Energy Department caused what has become known as his “oops” moment during a November 2011 Republican presidential candidate debate when he could not remember all of the three Cabinet-level departments he wanted to eliminate. After mentioning the departments of Commerce and Education, he said, “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”
Perry, who also briefly ran in the 2016 presidential race, would have to be confirmed by the Senate to head the Energy Department.
Perry served as governor of Texas, a leading oil-producing state, from 2000 when he succeeded President George W. Bush until 2015. In his unsuccessful presidential runs, he touted his record of job creation in the second-most-populous state.
News of Perry’s appointment came hours after Trump confirmed he has selected ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state.
