“Rick Perry was confirmed as Secretary of Energy, putting the former Texas governor at the head of an agency that deficit hawks want to see out of the business of boosting innovative technologies.

While many advisers to President Donald Trump want to eliminate the department’s funding for technologies such as flying wind turbines, Perry has offered a defense of its expansive role in helping nurture inventions — be they for clean coal or wind energy — into the marketplace.

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“”He is going to have to defend the budget proposal from some cuts pushed by OMB,”” said Dan Reicher, who served as the department’s Assistant Secretary of Energy during the Bill Clinton administration.”

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