Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is due before a Senate committee as lawmakers consider the Republican’s nomination to be chief steward of U.S. public lands. Burgum appears Thursday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump in November to be interior secretary. He would also chair a new energy council charged with promoting oil and gas development. The Interior Department oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore. Those areas produce about one-quarter of U.S. oil annually and have become a flashpoint in the debate over how to address climate change.
