The Senate considered President Trump’s nomination of Rick Perry to serve as secretary of the Department of Energy. The Department of Energy is charged with overseeing the country’s energy, environmental and nuclear policy with a focus on transformative science and technology solutions. As the governor of Texas, Perry appointed officials who denied climate science to key environmental positions, he sought to fast-track permit applications for new coal power plants, and he repeatedly sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over proposed limits on carbon pollution. Perry has also denied the science of climate change and previously called to eliminate the Department of Energy. On March 2, the Senate confirmed Perry to be secretary of the Department of Energy by a vote of 62-37 (Senate roll call vote 79). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.