Climate Wire | President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination for secretary of energy signals a push for fossil fuels in the United States.
President Trump this weekend named Chris Wright, CEO of hydraulic fracturing services company Liberty Energy, as his successor. The oil and gas executive is an ardent proselytizer of fossil fuels, often touting the benefits of energy use while downplaying the threat posed by climate change.
The light is Celebrated in the oil and gas sectorexecutives expect he will pave the way for further increases in U.S. liquefied natural gas exports. The country’s LNG exports have already surged in recent years, but the Energy Department earlier this year suspended new permit approvals while it assessed the climate and economic impacts of the surge.
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Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, said: “We are supporting U.S. geopolitical policy by lifting the Department of Energy’s suspension of LNG export licenses and ensuring that our allies around the world have unfettered access to U.S. energy.” We look forward to working with him, who has confirmed his strong academic strengths.” I said it on Saturday’s X.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed that the transition to clean energy was fueling inflation (though analysts say that’s just the way it is). partially accurate at best). He vowed to increase U.S. production of “liquid gold” even as the country produces record amounts of oil and gas.
If confirmed as Secretary of Energy, Wright would have a limited regulatory role regarding fossil fuels. Other government agencies wield far greater influence. For example, the Interior Department oversees drilling leases, and the EPA regulates industry emissions.
But Mr Wright will be tasked with approving or denying LNG exports, which environmentalists denounce as a serious threat to global warming. Controversial LNG projects that could get the green light under the lights include Louisiana’s vast CP2 project and Alaska’s $43 billion LNG project.
“He has used power to extend the use of deadly fossil fuels and give his polluting corporate executive friends a rubber stamp for the unrestricted expansion of LNG exports,” Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a statement. “We will be serious about exploiting it.” “Chris Wright is not just unqualified, he is a direct threat to our future and the future of our planet.”
Wright is a donor to the Trump campaign and reportedly met with the president-elect earlier this year. According to wall street journal. Last week, he was endorsed by Harold Hamm, a fossil fuel tycoon and ally of President Trump.
Wright’s nomination follows President Trump’s decision to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. The next president also appointed Mr. Burgum. Head of a new informal institution Calling the National Energy Council, President Trump said in a statement it would “oversee America’s path to energy dominance.”
“We are excited to work with these two gentlemen to advance America’s status as the world’s preeminent oil and gas producer,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of fossil fuel group Western Energy Alliance. “I am doing so,” he said. “Their policies are not only good for American jobs, economic growth, and prosperity, but also good for reducing energy poverty around the world.”
Wright was a major promoter of the technological development of hydraulic fracturing, which is often credited with boosting U.S. fossil fuel production. He has often argued that the benefits of energy use outweigh the effects of global warming emissions.
“There is no climate crisis,” Wright said, adding that net-zero emissions targets are “neither achievable nor humane.”
“The negative impacts of climate change are clearly overwhelmed by the benefits of increased energy consumption.” he said last year. “Despite constant fear-mongering from the media, politicians, and activists, we are not seeing an increase in the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, and floods.”
Scientists overwhelmingly agree that the burning of fossil fuels is causing climate change, which is increasing the frequency of disasters such as: wildfire, hurricane and heat wave. US government national climate assessment It also said that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing “the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events of various types.”
Methane emissions associated with gas production and LNG export are a major short-term driver of climate change. 2021 National Renewable Energy Laboratory Survey After reviewing existing research, we found that electricity generated from natural gas has 11 times more total lifecycle emissions than solar and 37 times more than wind.
Jean Hsu, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Energy Justice Program, called on other countries to “reject America’s fracking exports and instead embrace the renewable future we so desperately need.” Ta.
“Choosing someone like Chris Wright is a clear sign that President Trump is turning America into a pariah oil state,” Su said.
all of the above?
Trump’s energy picks have been controversial, but are expected to include former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) as attorney general and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth as defense secretary. It is not expected to generate the same level of opposition. Both are facing sexual assault charges.
As head of DOE, Wright will be tasked with approving billions of dollars in loans and grants for renewable energy, carbon capture, direct air capture, and hydrogen subsidies, all of which will be released in 2021. It was approved by Congress in the bipartisan Infrastructure Act of 2017. The DOE also regulates the efficiency levels of consumer electronics, directs national laboratories, maintains the nuclear stockpile, cleans up nuclear weapons factories, and broadly oversees energy policy.
Meanwhile, President Trump has set ambitious goals for a new National Energy Council led by Burgum.
“This team will advance U.S. energy dominance, curb inflation, win the AI arms race with China (and others), and expand U.S. diplomatic power to end wars around the world.” he said.
Burgum has supported carbon capture and hydrogen energy as decarbonization solutions for the power and industrial sectors. Both industries are receiving billions of dollars in federal aid as part of the Biden administration’s climate plan.
“Clean hydrogen can play an important role in all of the above energy approaches,” he said last year.
However, Trump’s inauguration will mark a dramatic shift in US strategy on climate change and global multilateralism. He is expected to abandon the Paris climate change agreement, as he did in his first term.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, President Joe Biden toured the Amazon rainforest on his way to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while U.S. leaders met in Baku, Azerbaijan for new climate change negotiations. He met with the leaders of various countries. Biden pledged U.S. funding to the Amazon Fund to prevent deforestation.
Biden has vowed to put the United States on track to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector by 2035 and across the economy by mid-century.
“Fighting climate change has become the defining cause of President Biden’s leadership and presidency,” the White House said Sunday. “Over the last four years, the government has created a bold new strategy to turn tackling the climate crisis into a huge economic opportunity.”
Environmentalists have vowed to continue fighting climate change even under Trump.
“The clean energy economy is here to stay and we are doing everything we can to protect both the Green Infrastructure Act and the latest climate change developments that will create jobs and reduce energy costs for households across the country.”Government said Senior Vice President Tiernan Sittenfeld. Affairs of the League of Conservative Voters.
Reporter Timothy Cama contributed to this report.
This story also appears below energy wire.
Reprinted from E&E News Published with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News provides news that matters to energy and environment professionals.
