President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has named Chris Wright, a longtime proponent of hydraulic fracturing, to be his administration's energy secretary.
Mr. Wright, chief executive officer of oilfield services group Liberty Energy, helped launch America's shale revolution in the mid-2000s, which significantly increased U.S. oil and natural gas production. .
“As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be an important leader, driving innovation, breaking through bureaucracy, and ushering in a new 'Golden Age of American prosperity and world peace,'” Trump said in a statement.
Wright's appointment to the Trump administration's cabinet signals the president-elect's determination to expand U.S. fossil fuel production while rolling back greener alternative fuels.
His slogan “Drill, baby, drill” has become synonymous with the plan, which would simultaneously overturn climate policies and regulations aimed at reducing the country's carbon emissions.
Wright shares the same ideology as a leader in the oil production industry and faced significant backlash last year when he denied the planet was facing a climate emergency.
“There is no climate crisis and we are not in the middle of an energy transition,” Wright said. In a video shared on LinkedIn.
In 2019, he made headlines for drinking fracking fluid on camera to prove he wasn't dangerous.
Wright's appointment marks a significant shift in direction from her predecessor, Jennifer Granholm, who promoted 100% clean renewable energy throughout the Biden administration.
Trump said that as part of his appointment, Wright will also serve on the new National Energy Council.
On Friday, he appointed Doug Burgum of North Dakota to lead the group, while also calling on Burgum to become Secretary of the Interior.
“The National Energy Council will be comprised of all departments and agencies involved in permitting, producing, generating, distributing, regulating, and transporting American Energy in all its forms. The Council will cut through red tape and “I will oversee America's path to energy dominance by strengthening private sector investment across all sectors of the economy and focusing on long-standing but completely unnecessary regulatory innovations,” President Trump said Friday. said.
“This team will advance U.S. energy dominance, curb inflation, win the AI arms race with China (and others), and expand U.S. diplomatic power to end wars around the world. ”
