A businessman who denies the climate crisis may become the US Secretary of Energy

President-elect Donald Trump intends to appoint to the post of head Chris Wright's Department of Energy. He is a supporter of the production and use of oil and gas and denies the climate crisis in the world.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Bloomberg.

Wright is the chief executive officer of Liberty Energy Inc. – an oil and natural gas fracking company in Colorado and has no Washington experience. He has made a name for himself as an ardent supporter of oil and gas, arguing that fossil fuels are critical to spreading prosperity and lifting people out of poverty. The threat of global warming, in his opinion, is exaggerated.

“Chris was a leading technologist and entrepreneur in the energy industry. He worked in the nuclear, solar, geothermal, and oil and gas industries. Most importantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American shale revolution that advanced US energy independence and transformed global energy markets and geopolitics,” said Trump's statement on Saturday.

The president-elect said that if confirmed, Wright will also serve on the newly created National Energy Board, which will be chaired by Interior Secretary nominee Doug Bergum.

Trump promises to revive liquefied natural gas export projects that were put on hold by the Joe Biden administration. Although the Department of Energy does not have significant authority over oil and gas production, Wright will play a leading role in helping Trump implement his energy priorities.

The publication notes that the choice of Wright, whose company is one of the largest providers of hydraulic fracturing services in the world, is a demonstration of Trump's support for the “hot button” method of oil and gas extraction.

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There is no climate crisis

The new candidate for the head of the Ministry of Energy has engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley.

This year, Wright's company published a 180-page paper in which it concluded that climate change is “far from the greatest threat to human life” and that “hydrocarbons are necessary to improve the well-being, health and life opportunities of the less well-off.”

“There is no climate crisis. And we are not in the midst of an energy transition,” Wright said in a video posted on his page in LinkedIn.

He warns that wind and solar subsidies raise electricity prices and increase grid instability, but also supports alternative energy. In addition, he serves on the board of small modular reactor developer Oklo Inc., and his company invests in geothermal energy and sodium-ion battery technology.

Wright also serves on the board of directors of EMX Royalty Corp., a global company , which deals in mining royalties.

Trump appointed Wright with the support of Continental Resources chairman Harold Hamm, a Trump energy adviser and donor. In an interview with Houston-based industry publication Hart Energy, Hamm said Wright was his choice for the job.

Energy Emergency

If approved by Congress, Wright would play a leading role in fulfilling Trump's campaign promise to declare an energy emergency. The president-elect has announced that it will help increase domestic electricity generation, which he says is necessary to meet the growing power needs of artificial intelligence.

During the first Trump administration, the Department of Energy played a critical role in the effort the president-elect on reviving US coal power, and he has hinted that he may try to replicate the initiative.

Wright will also oversee Trump's pledge to replenish the nation's crude oil emergency reserve. The strategic oil reserve, which has a capacity of more than 700 million barrels, has reached a low not seen since the 1980s. This happened after the unprecedented reduction of the reserve by the Biden administration by a record 180 million barrels after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.