On January 29th, a cadre of President Trump’s supporters introduced a more inclusive approach toward energy policy. Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and former Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette launched the Restoring Energy Dominance (RED) Coalition, a nonprofit focused on promoting an all-of-the-above energy strategy.
The RED Coalition’s website defines its operating team as “a group of concerned citizens and policy experts who understand that [expanding] American energy production — of all kinds — is essential for unleashing domestic energy dominance.” Their announcement video showcases a variety of sources of fuel including wind, nuclear, solar and oil.
The importance of solar and wind power to the RED Coalition’s overall strategy is further revealed by the fact that the project’s leaders have championed these sustainable energy sources in the past. After serving as the Energy Secretary at the end of Trump’s first term, Dan Brouillette became the CEO of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a prominent trade association for utility companies. As their leader, he advocated to protect climate technology subsidies. Brouillette explained the reasoning behind his career change in a press release: “This profound shift compels me to broaden my focus to the overarching issues facing our global energy landscape, […] so that I can spend my time engaging directly with world business and policy leaders on these existential challenges, and hopefully prevent this age of innovation from becoming an age of limitation.”
The group aims to ensure President Trump has the support he needs to advance his all-of-the-above energy agenda, and ensure competitiveness on a global scale. Brouillette stated that President Trump’s energy agenda is “essential to lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, and bolstering America’s national security.”