Sarah Palin wants to be Donald Trump's energy secretary, has no idea what the job entails
"I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby: oil and gas and minerals, those things that God has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind’s use instead of us relying on unfriendly foreign nations."
"I'd get rid of it. And I'd let the states start having more control over the lands that are within their boundaries and the people who are affected by the developments within their states. If I were in charge of that, it would be a short-term job, but it would be really great to have someone who knows energy and is pro-responsible development to be in charge."
Palin is alluding to the fact that the federal government owns billions of acres of land and coastal waters, containing quite a bit of oil, gas, and coal. Industry groups have long complained that President Obama hasn't opened up nearly as much of this land to drilling as they'd like. And a few groups out West have even demandedthat much of this land be returned to the states.
Except this all has very little to do with the Department of Energy, which mainly oversees the nation's nuclear weapons program — a task consuming nearly half its budget — and conducts energy R&D.
What Palin wants is the Department of Interior, which manages most federal lands. They're the ones handling leases for coal mining or supervising offshore oil and gas drilling. If you wanted to transfer public lands back to the states, you'd focus on Interior, not Energy.
Anyway, even if Palin did become cabinet secretary, she couldn't just abolish a department on her own. That would likely require an act of Congress. But it sounds like Interior should be the agency she "thinks a lot" about.
"I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby: oil and gas and minerals, those things that God has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind’s use instead of us relying on unfriendly foreign nations."
"I'd get rid of it. And I'd let the states start having more control over the lands that are within their boundaries and the people who are affected by the developments within their states. If I were in charge of that, it would be a short-term job, but it would be really great to have someone who knows energy and is pro-responsible development to be in charge."
Palin is alluding to the fact that the federal government owns billions of acres of land and coastal waters, containing quite a bit of oil, gas, and coal. Industry groups have long complained that President Obama hasn't opened up nearly as much of this land to drilling as they'd like. And a few groups out West have even demandedthat much of this land be returned to the states.
Except this all has very little to do with the Department of Energy, which mainly oversees the nation's nuclear weapons program — a task consuming nearly half its budget — and conducts energy R&D.
What Palin wants is the Department of Interior, which manages most federal lands. They're the ones handling leases for coal mining or supervising offshore oil and gas drilling. If you wanted to transfer public lands back to the states, you'd focus on Interior, not Energy.
Anyway, even if Palin did become cabinet secretary, she couldn't just abolish a department on her own. That would likely require an act of Congress. But it sounds like Interior should be the agency she "thinks a lot" about.
