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Trump names fracking executive Chris Wright energy secretary by Ido Vock, Nov 16, 2024, BBC News
Donald Trump has named oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright as his pick to lead the US Energy Department.
He is expected to fulfil the president-elect’s promise to increase fossil fuel production – an aim summed by the campaign slogan “drill, baby, drill”.
Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, which serves companies extracting oil and gas from shale fields in a process known as “fracking”.
Trump wrote in a statement: “Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fuelled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.
“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.”
Wright is a climate change sceptic who previously said he does not care where energy comes from, “as long as it is secure, reliable, affordable and betters human lives”.
In a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year, he said: “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
Wright will also be appointed to a new Council of National Energy, the Trump campaign said.
The council will oversee “the path to US energy dominance by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy,” Trump said.
The Trump campaign cited Wright’s work with Pinnacle Technologies, a company he founded before Liberty Energy, as being critical to the US’s fracking boom, which has made the country the largest oil producer in the world.
Wright’s appointment is a win for the fossil fuel industry, which expects a boom under the next administration. Trump has pledged to increase production of US fossil fuels rather than investing in renewable energy sources such as wind power – a goal Wright will be instrumental in driving.
The president-elect has pledged to open areas such as the Arctic wilderness to oil drilling, which he argues would lower energy costs.
During his first presidency, Trump rolled back hundreds of environmental protections and made America the first nation to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Frack friend Energy pick, Don taps industry exec by Katie Donley, Nov 17, 2024, New York Post
President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday tapped longtime fracking advocate Chris Wright to be secretary of Energy.
Wright (inset), 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.
The orange blob has had COVID-19 too many times, his brain is mushed.
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.Ya right, purified water I expect
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.
Article Name: Frack friend Energy pick
Publication: New York Post
Author: Katie Donlevy
Page: 8