Rick Perry attends hearing to head Energy Department he wanted to abolish

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Donald Trump in 2013 with his pick for Energy Secretary, Rick Perry. Source: Flickr/Governor Rick Perry

Former Texas governor Rick Perry, secretary of energy nominee to head the very department he suggested should be scrapped, said in his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday that he regretted making that recommendation.

Further concessions from the hearing included Perry stating that he believes anthropogenic global warming is real, but that US efforts to mitigate this should not cost American jobs.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

“I believe the climate is changing. I believe some of it is naturally occurring, but some of it is also caused by man-made activity. The question is how do we address it in a thoughtful way that doesn’t compromise economic growth, the affordability of energy or American jobs,” Perry said.

The slight admission is a significant one for Perry, who recently divested himself of any energy company investment ties, including his position on the Dakota Access Pipeline Company board. Perry had previously dubbed climate change as “a contrived phony mess”.

In addition to address previous flippant statements, Perry also told the Senate Energy Committee that he doesn’t want to raise the cost of energy. A good start, but a mere 24 hours before his hearing, various reports surfaced that Perry fundamentally misunderstood the role of energy secretary; believing it involved acting as an ambassador for the US oil and gas industry.

A role he might have been well-suited for; having served as governor of Texas for 15 years; one of the richest oil states in the nation.

What energy secretary does entail however primarily revolves around allocating the annual US$30 billion budget towards safeguarding America’s nuclear arsenal and R&D. Former energy secretary Ernest Moniz was a nuclear physicist. A day before Perry’s hearing, Moniz tweeted that the energy department is “at its core, a science and technology agency”.

The 66-year-old promised to “protect” climate scientists should be assume the leading energy role in the country. Concerns arose after the American Energy Alliance (the Washington-based group heading Trump’s energy transition team) went on a DOE “witch hunt” last month, after distributing surveys asking for the names of all employees involved in climate work.

Perry insisted several times that he “didn’t approve” of the questionnaire and has no need for such information. “I didn’t approve it, I don’t approve it, I didn’t need the information, I don’t want that information,” he said. “That’s not how I manage.”

“I am going to protect the men and women of the scientific community from anyone who would attack them,” Perry said in response to a question asking whether he would cut the DOE’s climate science budget.

Whilst the learning curve will be steep for Perry, the hearing aided in his education of the role.

“This confirmation process has been extremely informative and beneficial for me,” he said. Perry is also reported to have met with Moniz to discuss the wide-reaching ambit of energy secretary. 

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.

Read Next

June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 9, 2025
US residential solar installer Sunnova has laid off more than half of its workforce, while a subsidiary from Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 5, 2025
Policy uncertainty in the US is likely to disrupt investment in clean energy, according to a recent report from Crux.
June 5, 2025
Investment in clean energy and grids will reach US$2.2 trillion in 2025, double the expected investment into fossil fuels this year, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
June 5, 2025
US renewable power developer Invenergy has commissioned the 250MW Hardin III Solar Energy Center in the US state of Ohio.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece