Chris Wright, President-elect
Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Energy Department, said he’ll reverse Biden administration policies that stymied energy growth and will “restore our energy dominance at home and abroad.”
Liquefied natural gas production and usage of nuclear power will be central to Mr. Wright’s plans to increase energy production to lower consumer costs, improve grid stability and protect national security, Mr.
Wright told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing Wednesday.
“Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability, instead of the immense national asset that it is,” he told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The former fracking company CEO and industry pioneer was selected by Mr.
Trump to restore and expand production of oil and natural gas, which the president-elect calls liquid gold.
Mr.
Wright, 59, is on track to easily win confirmation in the GOP-led Senate and is poised to take the helm at the Energy Department that for the past four years has been committed to ending the use of fossil fuels even as U.S. and world energy demands are increasing.
Mr.
Wright called for removing red tape and eliminating federal policies that stop or delay energy projects, new moves that he said will ultimately lower costs and secure grid stability.
“We must build things in America again and remove barriers to progress,” he said.
His testimony was interrupted several times by protesters who blamed the massive fires burning in Los Angeles on fossil fuels and fracking. The demonstrators were removed by police.
Democrats objected to the hearing, arguing Mr.
Wright’s ethics and legal documents arrived only a day earlier.
Mr. Wright is expected to enforce Mr. Trump’s Day 1 plan to end the Biden administration’s ban on some liquefied natural gas.
The incoming secretary is also expected to promote an all-of-the-above energy policy that includes renewables, but flips the Biden policy of putting renewables first.
Mr. Trump chimed in as Mr. Wright answered questions on Capitol Hill, sending down an edict
on windmills, which he labeled an environmental disaster.
“I don’t want even one built during my administration. The thousands of dead and broken ones should be ripped down ASAP,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Most expensive energy, only work with massive government subsidies, which we will no longer pay!”
Mr.
Wright, if confirmed, would also oversee the Energy Department’s Wind Energy Technologies Office.