Perry vows to champion department he once wanted to shutter

WASHINGTON — Energy Secretary Rick Perry called the nation’s laboratories and scientists “jewels” and vowed Friday to be an advocate for the department he once famously forgot was on his list of federal agencies he wanted to shutter.

Perry met with employees of the Department of Energy just one day after he was confirmed by the Senate and took the oath of office administered by Vice President Mike Pence.

Perry drew laughter from the Energy Department town hall when he referenced his 2011 presidential debate performance when he forget that the agency was one of three that he wanted to mothball to save taxpayer funds and cut federal bureaucracy.

Perry said he later learned of the DOE labs and their work, which gave him “a new appreciation” for the scientists who have the ability to change the world.

As secretary, Perry said he would listen to employees and champion their work — and run the department like he ran the state of Texas, where he served as governor from 2000 to 2015.

“I managed the 12th largest economy of the world for 14 years,” Perry said. “I know how to manage.”

Perry was a rival to Donald Trump in 2016 for the Republican presidential nomination.

“I said some pretty harsh things about the president,” Perry said to laughter. “I can assure you one thing, he is a very forgiving man — generally.”

Perry said that when he was offered the job, Trump told him: “I want you to do for American energy what you did for Texas.”

The Energy Department oversees nuclear energy production and storage of nuclear waste.

Nevada officials are keenly watching Perry and the Trump administration to determine whether they will seek to restart efforts to prepare Yucca Mountain as a national repository for nuclear waste.

President Barack Obama stopped construction on Yucca Mountain in 2011.

During his confirmation hearing, Perry declined to take a position on storage at the Nevada site.

Both senators from Nevada, Dean Heller, a Republican, and Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, voted for Perry’s nomination.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., has led efforts in the House to block nuclear waste from coming to Yucca Mountain.

“Yucca Mountain would cost taxpayers billions and require the transportation of nuclear waste across every state in the country before it arrives in our state where we do not produce any waste,” Titus said.

Titus said Perry’s lack of experience with nuclear energy and issues before the Energy Department make him “a danger to health and safety of Nevadans.”

In his town hall at the Energy Department, Perry joked about his inability to become a veterinarian at Texas A&M University, where he received a degree in animal science. After graduation Perry served in an airlift wing in the U.S. Air Force.

“Organic chemistry made a pilot out of me,” Perry said to laughter.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.