KLIMAWIRE | President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Energy Secretary represents a push for US fossil fuels.
Trump asked Chris Wright, CEO of fracking services company Liberty Energy, for the position this weekend. The oil and gas executive is an ardent proselytizer of fossil fuels, often extolling the benefits of energy access while downplaying the threats posed by climate change.
It’s Wright was held in the oil and gas sectorwhere executives predict it will clear the way for more American exports of liquefied natural gas. The country’s LNG exports have already risen in recent years, but the Department of Energy suspended new permit approvals earlier this year to assess the climate and economic impacts of the surge.
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“We look forward to working with him to strengthen America’s geopolitical power by lifting the DOE’s freeze on LNG export permits and ensuring open access to American energy for our allies around the world,” said American Petroleum Institute CEO Mike Sommers. X said on Saturday.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly argued that the clean energy transition is driving up inflation (although analysts say that only partially accurate at best). He vowed to increase US production of “liquid gold”, despite the US producing record volumes of oil and gas.
If confirmed as head of the Department of Energy, Wright would have a limited regulatory role on fossil fuels. Other agencies have much more influence: for example, the Department of the Interior oversees drilling leases and the EPA regulates emissions from industry.
But Wright would have to approve or reject LNG exports, which environmentalists see as a major threat to rising global temperatures. Some of the more controversial LNG projects that could get a permit under Wright include the sprawling CP2 project in Louisiana and the $43 billion LNG project in Alaska.
“It will rubber-stamp corporate executive cronies of polluters by abusing their power to extend the use of deadly fossil fuels and build unfettered LNG exports,” Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a statement. “Chris Wright is not unqualified, he is a direct threat to our future and plans.”
Wright was a donor to the Trump campaign and reportedly met with the president-elect earlier this year. according to The Wall Street Journal. Last week, he secured the backing of fossil fuel tycoon and Trump ally Harold Hamm.
Wright’s appointment comes on the heels of Trump’s decision to nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. The president-elect also put Burgum responsibility for a new informal agency called the National Energy Council, and Trump said in a statement that he would “oversee the path to US ENERGY DOMINATION.”
“We are excited to work with these two gentlemen to grow as America’s leading producer of oil and natural gas,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the fossil fuel group Western Energy Alliance. “Their agenda is not only good for American jobs, economic growth and prosperity, but also for reducing energy poverty around the world.”
Wright was a key driver of the technological development of fracking, which is often credited with increasing US fossil fuel production. It has often been argued that the benefits of energy access outweigh the impact of global warming emissions.
Wright said “there is no climate crisis” and called net zero emissions goals “neither achievable nor humane”.
“Any negative effects of climate change are clearly outweighed by the benefits of increased energy consumption.” he said last year. “We have not seen an increase in the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts or floods, despite the constant fear of the media, politicians and activists.”
Scientists strongly agree that burning fossil fuels causes climate change, which increases the frequency of disasters. forest fires, hurricanes and heat waves. of the US government National Climate Assessment it also says greenhouse gas emissions are increasing “the frequency and severity of many types of extreme weather events.”
Methane emissions, linked to gas production and LNG exports, are a major driver of short-term climate change. 2021 National Renewable Energy Laboratory exam based on existing studies, the total life cycle emission of electricity generated from natural gas is 11 times higher than solar and 37 times higher than wind.
Jean Su, director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, called on other countries to “reject America’s fracking exports and instead embrace the renewable future we need.”
“Electing someone like Chris Wright is a clear sign that Trump wants to turn the US into a pariah petrostate,” Su said.
All of the above?
Trump’s energy picks, while controversial, are not expected to generate the level of opposition predicted by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general or Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as defense secretary. Both have allegations of sexual assault.
Over at DOE, Wright would have approved billions of dollars in loans and grants for renewable energy, carbon capture, direct air capture and hydrogen subsidies, all of which Congress authorized in the bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021. The DOE also regulates the efficiency levels of electrical appliances, runs national laboratories, maintains the nuclear stockpile, cleans up nuclear weapons plants, and broadly oversees energy policy.
Meanwhile, Trump has outlined ambitious goals for the new National Energy Council, led by Burgum.
“This team will push for US Energy dominance, which will reduce Inflation, win the AI arms race with China (and others), and expand America’s diplomatic power to end wars around the World,” he said.
Burgum has championed carbon capture and hydrogen energy as decarbonisation solutions for the energy and industrial sectors. Both industries have seen billions of dollars in federal aid as part of the Biden administration’s climate agenda.
“Clean hydrogen can play a big role in our whole energy vision,” he said last year.
But Trump’s inauguration will mark a dramatic shift in US strategy on climate change and global multilateralism. He is expected to cancel the Paris climate agreement, as he did in his first term.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, President Joe Biden trekked through the Amazon rainforest en route to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while US leaders met with their global counterparts in Baku, Azerbaijan, for a new climate dialogue. Biden pledged US funding for the Amazon Fund, which prevents deforestation.
Biden has vowed to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. electricity sector by 2035 and eliminate them across the entire economy by mid-century.
“The fight against climate change has been a defining cause of President Biden’s leadership and presidency,” the White House said Sunday. “Over the past four years, the Administration has created a bold new playbook that has made addressing the climate crisis a huge economic opportunity.”
Environmentalists vow to continue the fight against climate change under the Trump administration.
“The clean energy economy is here to stay, and we’re all here to protect basic environmental laws and defend climate progress that’s creating jobs and lowering energy costs for families across the country,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, Gov. Senior Vice President. League of Conservation Voters issues.
Reporter Timothy Cama contributed to this report.
This story also appears Energywire.
Reprinted E&E News Courtesy of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environmental professionals.
