newly elected president donald trump has selected Chris Wright, a campaign donor and fossil fuel executive, will serve as energy secretary in his upcoming second administration.
CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal supporter of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of his work. Trump's quest Achieving US “energy dominance” in the global market.
Trump also said in a statement Saturday that Wright would serve on the newly created National Energy Council, which will be chaired by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump's pick for Interior secretary.
Trump said in a previous statement that Burgum would oversee a panel that would include all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, generation, production, distribution, regulation and transportation.
Wright has been one of the industry's loudest voices against efforts to fight Climate change And fossil fuels could get a boost, including quick action by the Biden administration to end a one-year moratorium on natural gas export approvals.
Wright has also criticized the “top-down” approach to climate by liberal and left-wing groups and has said that the worldwide climate movement is “collapsing under its own weight.”
Wright's idea to head the administration's Department of Energy received support from influential conservatives, including oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm.
Hamm, executive chairman of Oklahoma-based Continental Resources, a major shale oil company, is a longtime Trump supporter and adviser who played a key role on energy issues in Trump's first term.
Hamm helped organize an event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in April, where Trump reportedly asked industry leaders and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to Trump's campaign, hoping to With that if Trump is re-elected he will cut environmental regulations.
The Department of Energy is responsible for advancing the energy, environmental, and nuclear security of the United States. The agency is in charge of maintaining the country's nuclear weapons, overseeing 17 national research laboratories and approving natural gas exports, as well as ensuring the environmental cleanup of the country's nuclear weapons complex. It also promotes scientific and technological research.
Republican Senator John Barrasso, who is expected to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Trump had promised bold choices for his Cabinet, and Wright's nomination fulfills that.
“He is an energy innovator who laid the foundation for America's fracking boom. Four years after America's last energy policy, our country is desperate for a Secretary of Energy who understands that American energy is vital to our economy and our national security. How important it is for us.” ″ Barrasso said of Wright, “Wright will help ensure that America remains committed to an all-of-the-above energy policy that puts American families first.”
Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a conservative group that supports fossil fuels, said Wright would be “an excellent choice” for energy secretary. Pyle led Trump's Energy Department transition team in 2016.
Liberty is a leading energy industry service provider focused on technology. Wright, who grew up in Colorado, earned his undergraduate degree at MIT and did graduate work in electrical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and MIT. In 1992, he founded Pinnacle Technologies, which helped launch commercial shale gas production through hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
He later served as chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale gas producer, before founding Liberty Resources in 2010.