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Kudlow panelists Jackie DeAngelis, Mark Simone and Caroline Downey react as President-elect Donald Trump calls out Democrats’ radical climate agenda.
Freshman Sen. Jim Justice began his first week on the job by warning that America faces a “crisis” unless the country addresses its energy policies, and quickly. But he expressed confidence in two of the nominees President-elect Trump has selected to address the problem.
The Republican of West Virginiawho was sworn in several days later than other senators to complete his term as the state’s governor, serves on the upper house’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which held confirmation hearings on Trump’s picks for lead the Department of Energy and the Department. of Interior this week.
Jim Justice, then-governor of West Virginia and Republican U.S. senator-elect, arrives for the Senate Republican leadership vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., Wednesday, November 13, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Trump’s nominee for Energy Secretary, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright, and the President-elect’s choice for Secretary of the Interior, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, were dubbed the “dream team” by American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard when his nominations were announced in November.
During Wright’s hearing Wednesday, Justice said, “America has a big, big crisis ahead of them. If we don’t solve this conundrum a year and a half from now, we’re going to have a crisis like you can’t. imagine”.
In an interview with FOX business after the hearing, Justice explained, noting the country’s rising debt, geopolitical threats and growing demand for energy, including the data centers needed to power artificial intelligence.
He said that increasing energy production in the US is the solution to solving “all of the above”.
Former West Virginia Governor Jim Justice speaks on stage with his dog, Babydog, on the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“You have to have an energy strategy and you have to follow a path of America leading the world in energy,” he said. “For me, energy is the key to everything here, everything: it solves inflation. It defunds the war, from Russia’s point of view, it solves absolutely everything, and that said, if we can’t bring it to this level. of seriousness, we are making a grave mistake in this country.”
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Justice, a billionaire coal entrepreneur, stressed during Wright’s hearing that while pursuing all forms of energy is important, the time has not yet come to abandon fossil fuels.
“We need to embrace all forms of energy. But that said, the minute you absolutely believe we can do without fossil fuels in this world today, you’re living in a cave. You’re absolutely living in a cave,” he said . “In my opinion, we don’t need to blow our legs so that China or India can dominate in so many different ways.” Justice was then interrupted by a protester.
Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy Inc. and nominee for US Secretary of Energy by US President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a confirmation hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington, DC, US, Wednesday, Ja (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Wright agreed with Justice about embracing all forms of energy and said Trump does too. Asked what he thinks Wright’s chances are confirmed, the senator told FOX Business, “100 percent.”
Justice also had high praise by Burgum after the nominee’s confirmation hearing on Thursday. The two are friends.
Then-Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum on day three of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Americans should know that they have someone who has spent time enjoying the outdoors as their incoming Secretary of the Interior, instead of a bureaucrat who has never set foot under a shutter,” Justice told FOX Business after
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The senator noted that he has known Burgum for a long time. When Justice was governor, he and Burgum often worked together on ways to empower their states through natural resources, and they bonded over their mutual love of conservation.
The senator added, “President Trump hit a home run by nominating Governor Burgum.”
