WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick for the vacant seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Bernard McNamee, an Energy Department lawyer that Democrats opposed for his views on climate change and renewable power.

McNamee, a Republican who helped roll out a directive by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize aging coal and nuclear plants that the FERC ultimately nixed, was approved 50-49, in a vote along party lines. The FERC is an independent panel of the Energy Department that makes decisions on the electric power system and energy pipelines.