The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Preston Wells Griffith III to serve as undersecretary of the Energy Department.

The 54-43 vote included Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, joining Republicans in support. 

Griffith said at an April hearing that his role would be to use the department’s resources to ensure that “America remains at the top of the global energy system and unleashes that abundance here at home and also abroad, especially with nuclear and natural gas.”

Griffith compared the challenge of bringing additional energy online to the Manhattan Project and said meeting the increased demands caused by the expansion of artificial intelligence and domestic manufacturing will require utilizing all sources that are “secure, reliable and affordable.”

The Energy Department, particularly Secretary Chris Wright, has criticized wind and solar power as making the grid less reliable.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., supported Griffith’s confirmation in committee in April, saying Griffith was qualified and that decisions at the department should be made by a Senate-confirmed nominee rather than someone with ties to the Department of Government Efficiency.

Griffith previously worked for the Republican National Committee and unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for a House seat in Alabama in a 2013 special election, ultimately placing fifth.

Griffith worked at the Energy Department in the first Trump administration as principal deputy assistant secretary for international affairs, where he traveled to international climate talks in 2018 to promote fossil fuels. He was later senior director for energy and environment at the National Security Council.

During that time at the NSC, Griffith, like others, declined to appear before House impeachment investigators in 2019 after being subpoenaed. Griffith said at his April hearing that the subpoena didn’t allow White House counsel to be present, and the Office of Legal Counsel in turn deemed the subpoena to be invalid. The office instructed him not to appear in order to protect executive privilege, he said.

He followed his stint at NSC with work at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. During the Biden administration, he worked at FTI Consulting Inc. on the firm’s energy portfolio.