Trump picks former Texas Governor Perry as energy secretary

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is greeted as he exits following a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 12, 2016. (REUTERS)

Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a source close to the president-elect said, putting him in charge of an agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

The choice of Perry adds to the list of oil-drilling advocates skeptical about climate change who Trump has picked for senior positions in his Cabinet, worrying environmentalists but cheering an industry eager for expansion.

The selection of Perry, who also had been mentioned as a candidate for agriculture secretary, was disclosed on Monday night after Perry met the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York.

The department is responsible for U.S. energy policy and oversees the nation's nuclear weapons program. Perry has advocated lighter regulation on the fossil fuel industry, and has called the science around climate change "unsettled."

Perry's proposal to get rid of the Energy Department caused what has become known as his "oops" moment during a November 2011 Republican presidential candidate debate when he could not remember all of the three Cabinet-level departments he wanted to eliminate. After mentioning the departments of Commerce and Education, he said, "I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops."

A few minutes later in the debate Perry said with a laugh, "By the way that was the Department of Energy I was reaching for a while ago."  READ MORE...