Kudlow panelists Jackie DeAngelis, Mark Simone and Caroline Downey react to President-elect Donald Trump calling out the Democrats radical climate agenda.
Freshman Sen. Jim Justice began his first week on the job warning that America faces a “crisis” unless the country addresses its energy policies – and fast. But he expressed confidence in two of the nominees President-elect Trump has selected to tackle the issue.
The Republican from West Virginia, who was sworn in several days later than other senators in order to complete his term as governor of the state, sits on the upper chamber’s Energy & Natural Resources Committee, which held confirmation hearings for Trump’s picks to lead the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior this week.
Jim Justice, then-governor of West Virginia and US Republican Senator-elect, arrives for the Senate Republican leadership vote at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 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 pick for interior secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, were dubbed the “dream team” by American Conservation Coalition (ACC) President Christopher Barnard when their nominations were announced in November.
During Wright’s hearing on Wednesday, Justice said, “America has a big, big crisis right in front of them. If we don’t solve this riddle in a year and a half from today, we will have a crisis like you can’t imagine.”
In an interview with FOX Business following the hearing, Justice elaborated, pointing to the country’s soaring debt, geopolitical threats, and the increasing demand for energy, including for the data centers needed to power artificial intelligence.
He said that ramping up energy production in the U.S. is the solution to solving “all of the above.”
Then-West Virginia Gov. 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’ve got to have an energy strategy, and you’ve got to get on a pathway of America leading the world in energy,” he said. “Energy, to me, is the key to everything here, everything: It solves inflation. It defunds the war – from Russia’s standpoint, it just absolutely solves everything – and with that being said, if we can’t take it to that level of seriousness, we’re making a bad mistake in this country.”
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Justice, a billionaire coal businessman, emphasized 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 the energy forms. But with that being said, the moment in time when you absolutely believe that 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 off so China or India can dominate in so many different ways.” Justice was then interrupted by a protester.
Chris Wright, chief executive officer of Liberty Energy Inc. and US energy secretary nominee for US President-elect Donald Trump, arrives for a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on 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. When asked what he thinks Wright’s chances are of being confirmed, the senator told FOX Business, “100%.”
Justice also had high praise for Burgum following the nominee’s confirmation hearing on Thursday. The two are friends.
Then-Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump talks to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on the third day 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 they have someone who has spent time enjoying the outdoors as their incoming Secretary of the Interior, instead of some bureaucrat who has never stepped foot in a duck blind,” Justice told FOX Business afterward.
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The senator noted he has known Burgum for a long time. When Justice was governor, he and Burgum worked together often on ways to empower their states through natural resources, and they bonded over their mutual love for conservation.
The senator added, “President Trump hit a home run nominating Gov. Burgum.”
