For Immediate Release, April 29, 2021
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Senate Urged to Reject Fossil Fuel Attorney Beaudreau for Deputy Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON More than 30 conservation groups today urged members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources to oppose attorney Tommy Beaudreau’s nomination for deputy Interior secretary, saying his representation of fossil fuel companies would undermine President Biden’s climate agenda. The committee is scheduled to consider Beaudreau’s nomination Thursday.
“Tommy Beaudreau exemplifies the worst type of revolving-door cronyism, jumping back and forth between representing fossil fuel interests and working for the government,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “He has too many conflicts of interest and is too beholden to the fossil fuel industry to implement President Biden’s bold vision for ending new fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters.�
Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.
Tommy Beaudreau (File photo: BOEM)
The White House on Wednesday nominated attorney Tommy Beaudreau, who oversaw energy development programs at the Interior department during the Obama administration, as the agency’s second in command.
Beaudreau will return as deputy to Secretary Deb Haaland after serving nearly seven years there under former President Barack Obama, becoming the first person to lead the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore oil and gas activity.
He later served as chief of staff to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
The Biden administration is in the midst of a formal review of its oil and gas leasing program to weigh taxpayer value against environmental costs.
WASHINGTON â The White House is naming Tommy Beaudreau, a former Obama administration official, to be deputy secretary at the Interior Department after dropping plans for a more liberal nominee who faced key Senate opposition.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Beaudreau, a former chief of staff at the department who was the first director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The agency, created after the disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, oversees offshore drilling and wind power.
Beaudreau grew up in Alaska and is politically close to Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a former chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee who holds great sway over oil drilling, endangered species and other department issues. Murkowski and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who now heads that committee, opposed Biden s plan to nominate former Interior Department official Elizabeth Klein as deputy secretary.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
(Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday nominated attorney Tommy Beaudreau, who oversaw energy development programs at the Interior department during the Obama administration, as the agency’s second in command.
Beaudreau will return as deputy to Secretary Deb Haaland after serving nearly seven years there under former President Barack Obama, becoming the first person to lead the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore oil and gas activity.
He later served as chief of staff to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
The Biden administration is in the midst of a formal review of its oil and gas leasing program to weigh taxpayer value against environmental costs.
The White House
WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate 12 members of his Administration to lead on climate and transportation matters across key agencies, including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Transportation.
The President has tapped Tommy Beaudreau for Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior, Meera Joshi for Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, Faisal Amin for Chief Financial Officer, Environmental Protection Agency, Christopher Coes for Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, Department of Transportation, Shannon Estenoz for Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior, Radhika Fox for Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency, Michal Freedhoff for Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Protection, Environmental