Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s first edicts on the job aim to meet an “energy crisis” in the U.S. head-on with more drilling for oil and gas and relaxed regulations that the former governor from North Dakota says could help drive down energy prices.
Burgum signed six secretarial orders Monday that claim to unleash the full energy potential of public lands in Alaska, establish the U.S. as a leader in extracting minerals other than oil and gas — such as critical minerals — and “eliminate harmful, coercive climate policies” from the Biden era. One order also called for the review of public land protections, which some environmental groups suggested could include a reconsideration of national monument boundaries.
The orders echo the flurry of executive actions signed by President Donald Trump in recent weeks. They are the first reveal of how Burgum, who has also been tapped to lead a to-be-formed national energy council, will manage the sprawling Interior Department.
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