WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump nominated fracking magnate and climate change skeptic Chris Wright as energy secretary on Saturday, tasking him with "cutting red tape” which the new administration hopes will drive investment in fossil fuels.
"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 a statement.
Wright is a founder of Liberty Energy, which serves the energy companies that have massively increased US fossil fuel production in recent years by extracting oil and gas from shale fields in a process known as "fracking.” "My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure,” Wright said on X after Trump’s announcement.
"Energy is the lifeblood that makes everything in life possible... I am looking forward to getting to work.” In a previous LinkedIn post, Wright had denied there is a "climate crisis.”
"There is no climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition either,” he said, adding that "the term carbon pollution is outrageous” because all life depended on carbon dioxide. "There is no such thing as clean energy or dirty energy, all energy sources have impacts on the world both positive and negative,” he added.
During his election campaign, Trump—who calls climate change a hoax—promised to boost the domestic fossil fuel industry in order to bring down energy prices that have driven inflation. He also pledged to tear up environmental regulations and the United States’ commitments to combat climate change under the landmark 2015 Paris accords.
Wright will devise policy alongside North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, head of the newly created National Energy Council. "We will DRILL BABY DRILL, expand ALL forms of Energy production to grow our Economy, and create good-paying jobs,” Trump said Friday as he announced Burgum’s appointment. Wright has repeatedly criticized efforts by outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden to encourage America’s transition to a low-carbon energy model and has downplayed the importance of solar. His views put him notably at odds with Trump’s key backer and informal advisor Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, who started the electric car company and invested heavily in solar out of fear of the impact of climate change.
Trump, 78, began shaping his new administration this week with a series of relatively mainstream Republican choices, including conservative Florida senator and foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio for secretary of state. But then came nominations for leaders of sprawling federal departments in his new government who have little or no relevant experience—but a history of loyalty to the incoming president.
Among the most controversial were attorney general pick Matt Gaetz, a former congressman once investigated for alleged sex trafficking, as well as Fox News host and national guard veteran Pete Hegseth, who was nominated to lead the Pentagon despite a thin CV.
Like Wright, they will require approval by the Republican-dominated Senate where Trump has warned lawmakers not to stand in his way or to even skip the oversight process all together.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist, has been nominated to be the new health secretary, while former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has regularly echoed Kremlin talking points, was offered the job of director of national intelligence. — AFP