Coloradan Chris Wright spent part of his birthday answering questions from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his confirmation hearing to become President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary.
Senators wished the 60-year-old a happy birthday before they peppered him with questions on the department he’s been tapped to run and the policies he’d pursue.
“I call myself a science geek turned tech nerd turned lifelong energy entrepreneur,” said Wright. “Energy is the essential agent of change that enables everything that we do. Everything.”
Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy, a fracking services company, told the committee that, if confirmed, he’d focus on three issues.
The first is a priority dear to many Republicans: unleashing American energy. The U.S. has had record oil and natural gas production for almost two years, but several Republicans criticized decisions made during the Biden administration, from halting new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and U.S. waters to revoking a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline to rules around natural gas water heaters.
Secondly, Wright said the DOE would lead the world on innovation and technology breakthroughs and strengthen its network of national laboratories. Colorado is home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Lastly, Wright said that, when it comes to energy, the country must build things again; he talked about cutting red tape, enabling private sector investment and developing the infrastructure to make energy more affordable.
Following tradition, Sen. John Hickenlooper introduced his fellow Coloradan, saying the two disagree on a lot of things, but that Wright is a successful entrepreneur and is open to discussion.
“He’s indeed an unrestrained enthusiast for fossil fuels in almost every regard, but he studied nuclear,’ said Hickenlooper in his opening. “His first years working were in solar. He has experience in wind. He is a practitioner and a key innovator around geothermal.”
But it’s Wright’s background in fossil fuels that helped propel him to the nomination and garnered support among Republican senators.
GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, chair of the committee, praised Wright’s experience and the industry know-how that he’d bring to the job.
“I'm eager to hear your plans for refocusing the Department of Energy on what ought to be its core mission: ensuring energy security, driving innovation and lowering costs for American families,” said Lee, who also used his time to criticize Biden Administration policies.
“Energy prices have soared, driving up the cost of not only energy itself but everything around it,” said Lee. “And as a result, families have struggled to make ends meet, and as it turns out, we need energy to do just about everything. When the cost of energy goes up, the cost of everything else does too.”
Republican West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice also gave a plug for fossil fuels, telling the audience if you think the country can’t do without them, “you’re living in a cave.”
Some in the audience, however, disagreed — loudly. The hearing was disrupted a few times by protestors, including one who yelled, “The climate crisis is here. LA is burning,” and a group that chanted, “Reject Chris Wright. L.A. is burning. We will fight.”
Sen. Alex Padilla of California, a Democrat, asked Wright about his past social media statements on wildfires, another area of concern for Colorado. Padilla focused on one in particular, where Wright wrote, “The hype over wildfires is just hype to justify more impoverishment from bad government policies.”
Padilla pressed, “Do you think it’s just hype?”
Wright said he “stands by his past comment.” He started to add that climate change is a real global phenomenon, but was cut off.
Wright’s public statements when it comes to climate change have been mixed, and many Democratic senators focused on that.
Hickenlooper asked what kind of preparation Wright would pursue to address climate change.
Wright said energy and climate are global issues and America should be a global leader. Climate change “is a real issue … and the solution is to evolve our energy system.”
“Do I wish we could make faster progress? Absolutely,” said Wright. “Are there things we can do, investments together, through the Department of Energy, to accelerate development of new energy technologies that are really the only pathway to address climate change? Absolutely. And we should have nothing but American leadership in this area. Energy and climate is a global problem, but America should be the leader.”
Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada questioned Wright, who said he supports an all-of-the-above energy approach, about the different types of energy the country has the potential to produce. He mentioned everything from fossil fuels to nuclear to renewables.
“The conversation we're going to have, and continue to have, around energy is important,” said Cortez Masto. “And it's not just focused on fossil fuels. No matter what some of my colleagues say, there should be a balanced approach to it, for our portfolio for energy, and that's what I'm looking for.”
When it comes to Wright and climate change, Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, said he thought Wright’s views are “more subtle than is publicly recognized.” King noted that Wright doesn’t deny climate change is happening and that it’s related to fossil fuels, but, but also that he’s focused on how the shift to renewables could negatively impact energy consumers.
Wright agreed with that characterization.
“Energy is critical to human lives. Climate change is a global challenge that we need to solve, and the trade-offs between those two are the decisions politicians make and they're the decisions that'll impact the future of our world and the quality of life,” Wright said. Still, he added, predictions are difficult. “We don’t know what’s coming in the future.”
Wright seems to be on a glide path to confirmation. Lee said he hoped to get Wright confirmed this month.
If there was any disagreement during the confirmation hearing, it was on a procedural level. Some Democrats dinged Lee for holding the hearing now, instead of giving them more time to review Wright’s ethics and financial disclosures, which they received after 5 p.m. the day before.
“I don't think it is too much to ask that members of this committee get 24 hours to review those documents,” said Ranking Member Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.
Who is Chris Wright?
Wright was raised in Colorado. Unlike previous Cabinet secretaries plucked from the state, he is neither a former elected official nor has previous government experience. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and received his master’s degree from MIT. He has a long background in the oil and gas industry, including founding Pinnacle Technologies in 1992, working as chair of Stroud Energy, and then founding Liberty Energy in Colorado in 2011.
His nomination has the backing of many oil and gas groups.
“He has the ability to move the country away from an alarmist, net-zero energy transition narrative to one of realistic policies that address climate change while erasing energy poverty and delivering abundant, affordable energy to all,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents independent oil and natural gas companies. She added he’d be a “vocal promoter” of the industry.
Jason Issac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, described Wright as an “exceptional choice.”
“His dedication to advancing domestic energy not only aligns with the goals of American prosperity but also underscores his commitment to securing affordable, reliable energy for all,” he said on social media. “Chris Wright understands that hydrocarbons are essential not just to American energy independence but also to global development and poverty alleviation.”
But other groups are concerned that, under Wright, the Department of Energy would prioritize the fossil fuel sector over renewables.
“While Wright acknowledges the reality of climate change, he deliberately misrepresents climate data and research to downplay the seriousness of the problem and to undermine proven solutions including transitioning away from fossil fuels and accelerating the transition to clean energy,” Davide Watkins with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. “He adopts a purposefully shortsighted view when describing the impacts of burning fossil fuels on the world, focusing on profits over people.”
The environmental group the Sierra Club dismissed Wright as "unqualified" for the job.
“He’ll be hell-bent on abusing his power to prolong the use of deadly fossil fuels and give his corporate polluter executive friends a rubber stamp for the unfettered buildout of (liquefied natural gas) exports. Clean air and clean water are not a priority for these people, and their reckless ideas and policies will only further harm the American people,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous, when Wright was first nominated.
Presidents from both sides of the aisle have had Coloradans on their cabinets, most recently as Interior Secretary. Trump picked the Western Slope’s David Bernhardt as his second Interior Secretary during his first administration. Former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar filled the same role during former President Barack Obama’s first term. And former President George W. Bush tapped Gale Norton to be his Interior Secretary.
For his second term, Trump has tapped North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be his Interior Secretary.
