The future administration of the president-elect is enriched with a new name which arouses controversy. Christ Wright is a staunch defender of the fossil fuel industry and has repeatedly denied the existence of a global climate crisis.
ADVERTISEMENT
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Chris Wright to serve as Energy Secretary in his second administration. CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Chris Wright is a strong supporter of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Donald Trump's drive to secure “energy domination” of the United States on the world market.
Chris Wright, a major donor to Donald Trump's campaign, has been one of the industry's loudest voices against efforts to combat climate change and could provide a boost to fossil fuels, particularly in moving quickly to end a year-long pause on natural gas export permits from the Biden administration. In a video posted last year on LinkedIn, Chris Wright said that “there is no climate crisis.”
Frequently criticizing what he calls the approach “descending” climate change by liberal and left-wing groups, Chris Wright says the global climate movement “collapses under its own weight” and wrote that fossil fuel production must be increased worldwide to lift people out of poverty.
Who supported Chris Wright's nomination?
The choice of Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy has won the support of influential conservatives, including oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm, a longtime supporter and adviser to Donald Trump and executive chairman of Continental Resources, a major shale oil company based in Oklahoma.
Harold Hamm played a key role in energy issues during Donald Trump's first term and helped organize an event at the Mar-a-Lago resort in April, during which Donald Trump reportedly asked industry executives and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to his campaign, hoping he would cut environmental regulations if re-elected.
Criticisms from environmentalists
Jackie Wong, senior vice president for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, called Chris Wright a “champion of dirty fossil fuels” and declared that his appointment as head of the Ministry of Energy was “a disastrous mistake”. “The Department of Energy should do everything possible to develop and increase 21st century energy sources, not try to promote the dirty fuels of the last century”said Jackie Wong.
Elon Musk tries to influence the appointment of Treasury Secretary
The announcement of Chris Wright's nomination came just hours after one of Donald Trump's lawyers, Will Scharf, became White House staff secretary. Will Scharf is a former federal prosecutor and was part of the mogul's legal team that successfully won broad immunity from the Supreme Court for the cases he is accused of.
Billionaire Elon Musk, a key ally of Donald Trump, has meanwhile called for more direct public participation in the decision-making process for another high-profile position the president-elect is still considering, head of the Treasury Department .
“It would be interesting to hear from more people so that Donald Trump can take their opinions into account”wrote Elon Musk on Saturday. The latter is backing Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Donald Trump's transition team, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chosen by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, also supported Howard Lutnick, writing on his X account: “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle-class Americans.”
