US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, pledged Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to focus on restoring US energy dominance.
“President Trump shares my passion for energy, and if confirmed, I will work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable, and secure American energy,” Chris Wright told the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Wright outlined three immediate priorities he would focus on if confirmed. “The first is to unleash American energy both domestically and internationally to restore our energy dominance.”
Wright said that if confirmed, he would focus his attention on three immediate priorities. “The first is to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore our energy dominance.”
“The security of our nation begins with energy,” said Wright.
“Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability instead of the immense national asset that it is,” he said.
“To compete globally, we must expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquefied natural gas, and cut the cost of energy for Americans,” he emphasized.
Wright’s second priority is for the U.S. to “lead the world in innovation and technological breakthroughs.”
“Throughout my lifetime, technology and innovation have immeasurably enhanced the human condition,” he noted. “We must protect and accelerate the work of the Department’s National Laboratory network to secure America’s competitive advantage and its security.”
The Liberty Energy CEO’s third priority is to “build things in America again and remove barriers to progress.”
“Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard to start and complete projects. This makes energy more expensive and less reliable,” he added.
“President Trump is committed to lowering energy costs, and to do so, we must prioritize cutting red tape, enabling the private sector investments, and building the infrastructure we need to make energy more affordable for families and businesses,” he explained.
Earlier this month, outgoing US President Joe Biden announced that he is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling along most US coastlines.
Trump vowed to quickly revoke outgoing Biden’s ban on offshore oil and gas drilling.
‘Banning offshore drilling will not stand. I will reverse it immediately,’ Trump said.
Last November, Trump announced that he had nominated Liberty Energy founder and CEO Wright as the US Secretary of Energy.
Wright, who is also a donor to Trump’s campaign, leads Liberty Energy, a company that provides services and technology to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies operating onshore.
In a 2023 video posted on LinkedIn, Wright said: “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
