Trump taps oil executive Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

President-elect Trump has nominated Chris Wright to be energy secretary. He's an oil and gas executive. His nomination is an indication the Trump administration is expected to shift the Energy Department's focus away from the clean energy initiatives championed under President Biden. NPR's Julia Simon reports.

JULIA SIMON, BYLINE: Wright is the CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy. A big donor to Trump, he has a long history developing technologies for fracking, a type of oil and gas extraction. As energy secretary, Wright would take over a department with a wide range of responsibilities, from maintaining nuclear weapons to clean energy research.

Under the Biden administration, the department focused on energies that reduce planet-heating pollution, like solar, big batteries and geothermal. By contrast, Wright has publicly downplayed the threat of climate change and argued against reducing fossil fuels.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHRIS WRIGHT: There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either.

SIMON: That's Wright in a video he uploaded to LinkedIn last year.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WRIGHT: We have seen no increase in the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts or floods, despite endless fearmongering of the media, politicians and activists.

SIMON: That view contradicts the scientific consensus that human-driven global warming is leading to more intense hurricanes, droughts and floods. Trump has promised that his new administration would focus on increasing the production of fossil fuels and getting rid of regulations. Trump has called Biden's investments in climate solutions a, quote, "green new scam."

Dan Kammen, energy professor at UC Berkeley, says if the U.S. cuts investments in the energy transition, it could fall behind other countries like China, Denmark and Germany.

DANIEL KAMMEN: It certainly leaves the door further open to all of the other countries that are being leaders in the clean energy transition and benefiting from it.

SIMON: Wright's appointment will have to be approved by the Senate.

Julia Simon, NPR News.

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