New Mexico's senators weigh-in on Trump's Energy, Transportation picks

The Los Angeles fires loomed over the nomination hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy on Wednesday.

Nominee Chris Wright focused on the importance of nuclear energy, making the electric grid more resilient and increasing U.S. energy production during the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. At times his testimony was interrupted by protesters drawing attention to climate change and the fires devastating LA.

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., was not ready to say if he would vote to approve Wright, but said the nominee is less dogmatic than he expected prior to meeting him.

“If we’re going to solve this challenge of how do we remain at the front of the AI revolution and don’t cede that leadership to our adversaries, we’re going to need a whole lot of generation and we’re going to need to connect things faster, and he does seem to understand the challenges in the transmission and interconnection queue areas,” Heinrich said.

The Department of Energy plays a crucial role in New Mexico, overseeing the national laboratories — including Sandia and Los Alamos — and maintaining the nuclear arsenal. The agency also oversees U.S. energy supply and environmental clean-up of nuclear waste.

The chief executive of Colorado fossil fuel company Liberty Energy, Wright has been a vocal advocate for fossil fuels. During the hearing, he committed to severing his ties to energy companies, including with geothermal company Fervo Energy, if confirmed.

“I will sever all of my ties across the whole energy space, but I won’t sever my passion for seeing energy technologies advance to better American lives,” Wright said.

The U.S. needs to expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquefied natural gas, Wright said. He also committed to visiting Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories in his first year, and said he would keep the 17 national labs focused on science and energy innovation.

Wright said he believes nuclear waste can be dealt with safely, pointing to a nuclear power company that has managed its waste even without a permanent repository.

“It’s a political and social challenge, but technically can we deal with nuclear waste safely? Yes we can,” Wright said.

Community buy-in is an important component in establishing a permanent waste repository, he said. The only permanent transuranic waste depository in the U.S. is the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, which does not accept commercial waste.

While much of Wright’s reception seemed positive, Democrats took issue with the proceedings. Heinrich said he was disappointed that Republican Committee Chair Mike Lee of Utah scheduled the hearing so quickly. Wright’s background check and financial disclosures were not delivered to committee members until late in the day Tuesday, giving them little time to review the documents.

Trump’s Interior secretary pick, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, will have a confirmation hearing Thursday. The date was pushed back after Democrats, led by Heinrich, urged Lee to postpone because Burgum’s FBI background check and financial disclosures had not been completed.

Transportation nominee

The Senate nomination hearing for Trump’s Transportation secretary pick, former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, was also Wednesday morning.

New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, said he had a chance to speak with Duffy about roads, bridges, railways and hot air balloons ahead of the hearing. They also spoke about the risks of drunken driving and legislation Luján passed previously with Florida Sen. Rick Scott requiring carmakers to install technology in new vehicles to prevent drunken driving crashes.

Duffy clearly had bipartisan support in the hearing, Luján said, and the two connected over their experiences with serious car crashes.

“I survived a drunk driver that hit me head-on some 30 years ago. ... (Duffy) shared with me that his spouse, Rachel, that she actually survived a head-on collision many years ago,” Luján said.