Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm is the member of Trump’s new economics team in charge of energy policy. He is said to be under consideration for Secretary of Energy. Harold Hamm is Chairman and CEO of Continental Resources, an oil company, of which he owns 72%. He is worth $12.9 billion, down from $19 billion, due to the drop in oil prices. He is the richest man in Oklahoma. He has a high school diploma. I don’t doubt that he is an oil and natural gas expert, having spent his life as a leader in the field. He is a leader in fracking North Dakota shale for oil and natural gas. At the same time, he opposes state tax rebates for zero emissions wind energy, which now provides 17% of Oklahoma energy.
He was the only speaker at the Republican convention to mention climate change. He said it is not our most important problem. The Department of Energy (DOE) develops clean energy sources, and regulates clean nuclear energy. It works for technological developments to battle climate change, and meet the Paris agreements. The DOE is in charge of our nuclear weapons arsenal. The DOE supports basic research in physics, biology, and mathematics. An oil tycoon does not fit these roles.
The idea of getting unbiased energy analysis from an oil tycoon is ridiculous, whether on the advisory committee, or as Secretary of Energy. For contrast, President Obama had appointed Nobel Laureate physicist Steven Chu of UC Berkeley, and now MIT Physics Professor Ernest Moniz, as his energy Secretaries. Prof. Moniz helped achieve the Iranian nuclear disarmament treaty. Trump is obviously not shooting for unbiased advice that will benefit the nation, but for simply pleasing the oil donors.
