WASHINGTON, June 28, 2017 - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry launched the Trump administration’s “Energy Week” Tuesday by promising to make zero-emissions nuclear energy “cool again.” Perry said he believes “no clean energy portfolio is truly complete without nuclear power and so does the President.”
Speaking to reporters at a White House press briefing, the former Texas governor also highlighted renewables like wind and solar along with coal as important parts of the administration’s plan to achieve “energy dominance.”
Perry said this week’s energy agenda will include a White House meeting with state, tribal, business, and labor leaders to discuss “what the path going forward is for U.S. energy dominance.” He explained that “President Trump wants America to achieve energy dominance by utilizing our abundant resources for good both here and abroad.”
The former Texas governor described an “energy dominant America” that is self-reliant, free from “the geopolitical turmoil of other nations who seek to use energy as an economic weapon,” and stressed that such an America “will export to markets around the world, increasing our global leadership and our influence.”
Perry stressed Trump administration and DOE priorities to end “the bureaucratic blockade that has hindered American energy creation.” He said that with this new Trump administration focus on all-of-the-above energy development, by 2018 the U.S. is expected to be a net energy exporter of natural gas. He promised “unleashing our full energy potential in this country will lead to robust job growth and expansion in every sector of our economy.”
As part of this focus on energy development, Perry said that the administration will “reaffirm our commitment to clean energy.” He rejected the false choice between “pro-energy and pro-environment,” insisting instead “we can do good for both.”
Regarding international efforts to address climate change, Perry claimed “there was one fact missing in the headlines about the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement, and that is the U.S. already leads the world in lowering emissions.” He said that’s been done “through innovation and technology, not by signing agreements.”
Perry blamed the Obama administration for signing the Paris accord “that put the taxpayer on the hook for a costly deal – there is a billion dollars already out the door.” But he said the good news is that President Trump “has the good sense to step in before billions more have been committed.”
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