House Democrats and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued over renewable energy projects during a hearing Wednesday that also touched on the ongoing permitting reform negotiations.
The administration has been at odds with Democrats on wind and solar, as officials work to slow down or block projects onshore and off. That tension was on display Wednesday, when Burgum appeared before the Natural Resources Committee.
Multiple Democrats held up batteries to emphasize the ability to store energy from wind and solar. The administration has called both unreliable. And Burgum, at one point, responded to Democrats by saying, “false, false, false.”
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) played a video of Burgum talking about wind energy as North Dakota governor. In the video, he said the state had become the sixth leading producer of wind and that “we’re not slowing down.”
