Donald Trump has doubled down on his commitment to increase fossil fuel production by picking fracking company executive Chris Wright to lead the US Energy Department.
In appointing the climate change sceptic to his top team, the president-elect has acted consistently with his election campaign motto of “drill, baby, drill”.
Mr Wright is the founder of Liberty Energy, which promotes fracking - a controversial practice which sees gas or oil extracted from shale rock. It involves drilling down and across for several kilometres before pumping in water.
It is controversial with groups such as The Countryside Charity for the large traffic movement required in the operation and for causing damage to the rural landscape and habitats.
Mr Wright posted a video on his LinkedIn page where he said: “There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
Trump is himself a climate change denier and has enthusiastically backed his pick for energy lead. It is his latest radical appointment after making Elon Musk an “efficiency” tsar and putting vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy in charge of federal healthcare.
I am honored and grateful for the opportunity from @realDonaldTrump to serve our country as U.S. Secretary of Energy. My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood… pic.twitter.com/IfjMQw9xKi
— Chris Wright (@ChrisAWright_) November 16, 2024
Trump wrote in a statement: “Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fuelled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.
“As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace.”
Mr Wright responded to say he was “honoured” to be given the chance.
The appointment has been greeted with a mixed reaction, AP has reported.
Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's top lobbying group, said Mr Wright's experience in the energy sector "gives him an important perspective that will inform his leadership" of the energy department.
"We look forward to working with him once confirmed to bolster American geopolitical strength by lifting DOE's pause on LNG export permits and ensuring the open access of American energy for our allies around the world," Mr Sommers said.
Jackie Wong, senior vice president for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, called Mr Wright "a champion of dirty fossil fuels" and said his nomination to lead the energy department was "a disastrous mistake."
"The Energy Department should be doing all it can to develop and expand the energy sources of the 21st century, not trying to promote the dirty fuels of the last century," Mr Wong said.
"Given the devastating impacts of climate-fueled disasters, DOE's core mission of researching and promoting cleaner energy solutions is more important now than ever."
