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President-elect Donald Trump tapped longtime fracking advocate Chris Wright to lead his administration’s Department of Energy, he announced Saturday.
Wright, the chief executive of oilfield services group Liberty Energy, helped launch the American Shale Revolution of the mid-2000s that significantly increased US production of oil and natural gas.
“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’s appointment to the Trump administration cabinet signifies the president-elect’s determination to boost fossil fuel production in the US, while rolling back green alternatives.
His slogan, “Drill, Baby, Drill,” has become synonymous with this plan, which would simultaneously reverse climate policies and regulations aimed at reducing the country’s carbon footprint.
As a leader in the oil production industry, Wright shares the same ideology, and faced significant backlash last year when he denied the globe was facing a climate emergency.
“There is no climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition either,” Wright said in a video shared on LinkedIn.
He made headlines in 2019 when he drank fracking fluid on camera to demonstrate it was not dangerous.
Wright’s appointment marks a significant about-face from his predecessor, Jennifer Granholm, who has pushed for 100% clean renewable energy throughout the Biden administration.
As part of his appointment, Wright will also serve as a member of the newly formed Council of National Energy, Trump stated.
He tapped North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum Friday as the group’s leader, while also asking Burgum as Secretary of the Interior.
“The Council of National Energy will consist of all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, of ALL forms of American Energy. This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump said Friday.
“This team will drive U.S. Energy Dominance, which will drive down Inflation, win the A.I. arms race with China (and others), and expand American Diplomatic Power to end Wars all across the World.”
