Who is Chris Wright? Trump’s pick for energy secretary is a climate change critic- The Week

President-elect Donald Trump has named Chris Wright as the new energy secretary. CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive.

Wright is known to be an advocate of oil and gas development and is considered the key person in achieving US’s ‘energy dominance’ in the global market.

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Being a fossil fuel executive, Wright is likely to raise voice against efforts to fight climate change and would also end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration.

Though Wright has not served in government, he has written that more fossil fuel production is needed around the globe to lift people out of poverty.

Wright has called climate activists as alarmists. “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either,” Wright had said.

Wright’s appointment was backed by many influential conservatives, including oil tycoon Harold Hamm. Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, played a key role in energy issues in Trump’s first term.

At an event organised at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in April, Trump, reportedly, sought the industry leaders and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to Trump’s campaign, with the expectation that he would curtail environmental regulation if reelected.

According to Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, Wright’s experience in the energy sector “gives him an important perspective that will inform his leadership” of the Energy Department.

The Energy Department is for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the US. The agency is in charge of maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons, oversees 17 national research laboratories and approves natural gas exports, as well as ensuring environmental cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex.

If confirmed by the Senate, Wright will be a member of a new National Energy Council that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will chair.

Wright will be replacing Jennifer Granholm, a supporter of EVs and emerging energy sources like geothermal power, solar and nuclear energy.