Senate confirms Doug Burgum as interior secretary after Trump tasked him to boost drilling

The Senate has confirmed billionaire Doug Burgum as interior secretary. Lawmakers on Thursday voted 79-18 in favor of Burgum. President Donald Trump tapped the two-term North Dakota governor to spearhead Republican ambitions to boost fossil fuel production. He succeeds Deb Haaland, who curbed oil and gas lease sales and promoted wind and solar projects for the Biden administration. Trump wants to move in the opposite direction and Burgum is tasked with making it even easier for energy companies to tap fossil fuel resources. That’s raised alarms among environmentalists and some Democrats as greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels bake the planet.