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Sarah Palin Says She Wants To Be Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MANUEL BALCE CENETA, FILE
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MANUEL BALCE CENETA, FILE

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says that if Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, she wants to be his Secretary of Energy.

As Palin was speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, the conversation shifted to a discussion of businessman and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who recently said that he would “love” to have her in his cabinet if he won the White House. When asked which position she would want in a hypothetical Trump administration, Palin was quick to answer: Energy Secretary.

“I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby: oil and gas and minerals, those things that God has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind’s use instead of us relying on unfriendly foreign nations,” she said, using a conservative theological argument to justify wanton use of fossil fuels — an argument that has been debunked by none other than Pope Francis.

Palin went on to explain that her theoretical tenure as Energy Secretary would be short, primarily because she would immediately disband the entire department.

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“If I were head of [the Department of Energy], I’d get rid of it,” she said. “And I’d let the states start having more control over the lands that are within their boundaries and the people who are affected by the developments within their states. If I were in charge of that, it would be a short-term job, but it would be really great to have someone who knows energy and is pro-responsible development to be in charge.”

Palin isn’t alone in her desire to disband the Department of Energy, a crucial component of the federal government established by President Jimmy Carter that oversees, among other things, the safety and security of America’s nuclear weapons. Several Republicans have called for its abolishment in the past, and current Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has previously stated that he wants to close it down, although he famously forgot the name of it during a debate in 2012.