President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday he has selected Chris Wright, an oil and gas industry executive, to lead the Department of Energy in his upcoming administration.
Wright, the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, a Denver-based oilfield service company, is a staunch defender of fracking and fossil fuel use who has never served in government.
Last year, Wright took to social media to talk about some “deceptive and destructive” words and phrases people use when discussing energy and climate, including “climate crisis,” “carbon pollution” and “clean [and] dirty energy.”
“There is no climate crisis and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either,” he said in a video posted on his LinkedIn page. “Humans and all complex life on earth is simply impossible without carbon dioxide. Hence the term carbon pollution is outrageous.”
If confirmed by the Senate, the Republican donor and fundraiser could take quick action to restart the department’s issuance of approvals for natural gas exports, which was paused by the Biden administration earlier this year.
“As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new ‘Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace,’” Trump said in an announcement shared on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
In addition to leading the Energy Department Wright will serve alongside Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum on the new National Energy Council — which “will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump wrote.
Saturday’s announcement was immediately criticized by the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization.
“Not since Donald Trump’s most recent cabinet pick has a nominee ever been so utterly unqualified for the job,” Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement.
“Chris Wright is a climate denier who has profited off of polluting our communities and endangering our health and future,” he added, vowing to do “all we can do” to stop Wright and his “pro-polluter agenda.”
With News Wire Services
