A Department of the Interior (DOI) official whose candidacy for a lesser post at the agency floundered after she championed climate measures was given a big promotion by the Biden administration, reports show.
The DOI stated that Laura Daniel-Davis, currently the principal deputy undersecretary of land and minerals management, would become the acting assistant secretary, the agency’s second-most senior job. In March, once it came out that Daniel-Davis had placed the climate agenda above energy security, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, scuttled her candidacy for deputy assistant secretary.
In a statement sent by his office, Manchin said that he had previously backed her but now could not do so in good conscience because of her politics and willingness to concur with the erroneous and potentially hazardous manipulation of laws.
Reports reveal that in the past, Daniel-Davis had a senior position in the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), an organization that has promoted radical environmental policies. She also assisted former Democrat Colorado Representative Mark Udall on energy policy and worked at the Department of Interior under Obama and Clinton.
A wide margin of senators approved her in June 2021 to take over for departing Interior Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau.
During his time in office, Beaudreau was vital in approving a vast energy exploration project in Alaska and handled various other important DOI activities.
Daniel-Davis was initially nominated by President Biden in June of 2021. Since then, she has had two confirmation hearings in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, both of which she has lost due to Republican opposition and concerns about her views on energy problems raised by committee members.
According to Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, Laura Daniel-Davis is working hard to raise American energy prices. She weakened energy and mineral security as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. She has curtailed federal oil and gas leases and prevented access to vital minerals. She strongly opposes releasing American energy.
This aggressive agenda caused the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to twice reject her appointment. Raising her to a higher position exposes the Biden Administration’s unquestioning support for an anti-American energy policy.
