Energy pick vows to boost agency

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Energy Department, vowed to be an advocate for an agency he once pledged to eliminate and promised to rely on federal scientists, including those who work on climate change.

Perry told a Senate committee Thursday that he regrets his infamous statement about abolishing the department and insisted it performs critical functions, particularly in protecting and modernizing the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

“My past statements made over five years ago about abolishing the Department of Energy do not reflect my current thinking,” Perry said.

At his confirmation hearing, Perry also pledged to promote and develop American energy in all forms, advance the department’s science and technology mission and carefully dispose of nuclear waste. And he acknowledged that climate change is real.