Perry selection draws sharp criticism in New Mexico

“Governor Perry is a very good friend of mine who showed tremendous leadership in the State of Texas,” Martinez said in a statement. “I look forward to working with him at the Department of Energy to support our national labs and WIPP facility.”

The stakes are high in New Mexico, where stagnant job growth has made the state all the more dependent on federal largess. No federal agency spends more here than the Energy Department. How the agency is managed is also critical to New Mexico because it oversees operation of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, the nation’s only deep geologic facility for disposal of weapons-related nuclear waste.

Several news organizations reported Tuesday that Trump had picked Perry to head Energy Department, though Trump has not made a formal announcement.

Perry, who twice ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president, said in 2011 during a presidential debate that he wanted to eliminate the Energy Department, although he initially couldn’t remember the name of the agency.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., blasted the pending nomination.

“The Department of Energy is New Mexico’s economic lifeblood,” Heinrich said in a statement. “… President-elect Trump has signaled his blatant hostility to the Department and the workforce at our National Labs by nominating someone who has proposed eliminating this entire agency. I’m not confident that Rick Perry is fully cognizant of the role that DOE plays in keeping our nuclear deterrent safe, secure and reliable. He is utterly unqualified to lead this critical agency.”

The stated mission of the Energy Department is to ensure the country’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through science and technology. Its work includes research in renewable energy and overseeing the nation’s nuclear weapons complex.

The agency spent more than $5.1 billion in New Mexico in fiscal year 2016, which ended Sept. 30, according to department budget documents. That amounted to nearly 70 percent of all federal dollars spent in the state.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said in a statement: “I’m disappointed but not surprised that President-elect Trump intends to nominate as Secretary of Energy someone who once said he wants to eliminate the very agency he has been tapped to lead. Governor Perry’s past comments show a lack of seriousness about the department’s full mission, and I will be listening very closely to his current views on this matter.”

Udall added, “To win the confidence of the American people and the Senate, Governor Perry will need to demonstrate a strong understanding of these complex challenges and lay out a management vision to execute the difficult tasks before the department.”

The senator also said Trump and Perry need to assure Department of Energy employees that they will not be targets for political persecution because of past work on climate change.

The comment was a reference to a questionnaire that the Trump transition team sent to the department. The questionnaire sought, among other things, the names of employees associated with carbon-reduction meetings and United Nations climate conferences.

The office of New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce, the only Republican member of the state’s congressional delegation, said Pearce wouldn’t comment on Perry’s selection until it was officially announced by Trump.

Perry also came under criticism for sitting on the board of Energy Transfer Partners, the firm that is trying to complete work on the Dakota Access pipeline on the Great Plains.

Former Gov. Bill Richardson, who served as energy secretary under President Bill Clinton, said he is concerned that Perry will advocate for the fossil fuel industry at the expense of Energy Department programs in renewable energy and climate change.

“We worked well together as governors, however, and he is a political heavyweight whom I hope will fight the Trump climate change deniers and the environmental skeptics for a balanced energy policy.”

Sherman McCorkle, chairman and chief executive officer of Sandia Science and Technology Park, which is affiliated with Sandia National Laboratories and is involved in transferring technology from Sandia to private companies, said Perry has a great understanding of the oil and gas industry. But, McCorkle said, Perry is an unknown to him when it comes to renewable energy and nuclear weapons work.

“I’m like other people,” he said. “It is ironic that this is the agency he couldn’t remember that he wanted to abolish.”

Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy, a Santa Fe-based advocacy group for renewable energy, said the selection of Perry is “disastrous” because he doesn’t have expertise in nuclear weapons or nuclear power, denies that climate change is a threat and has been a champion of fossil fuel production, including the use of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” which results in large amounts of wastewater.

Nanasi said, however, that Perry served as governor during a boom in the production of wind power in Texas.

Greg Mello, director of the Los Alamos Study Group, a watchdog organization, called Perry a poor fit to head the Energy Department.

“He knows nothing about nuclear weapons, DOE’s largest program, currently 30 percent of total spending,” Mello said in a statement. “Perry cannot help but know a little about the oil and gas business of course, but this comprises just 3 percent of DOE’s work.”

Among the environmental groups calling Perry unqualified to head the Energy Department were Friends of the Earth and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Governor Perry also has serious conflicts of interest that should disqualify him from the job,” said Benjamin Schreiber, climate and energy director for Friends of the Earth. “Perry is on the payroll of the company that attacked indigenous people in an effort to forcibly construct the Dakota Access pipeline. Like his new boss, Governor Perry will surely mine his position for as much personal gain as he can find.”

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said: “The cabinet choices become more absurd every day. … By nominating Perry, President-elect Trump is continuing to pack his cabinet with allies of big polluters who put profits over people. The American people didn’t vote to return to the dirty old days when smog choked our cities. And we didn’t vote to turn a blind eye to the dangers of climate change.”

The Santa Fe New Mexican is a sister-paper of The Taos News. Contact Thom Cole at 505-986-3022 or tcole@sfnewmexican.com.