Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright Tells Fossil Fuel Execs He Wants to ‘Play a Role in Reversing’ Biden Climate Policies

United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Monday delivered a blunt critique of the energy and climate policies of the Biden administration to a group of oil and gas executives, promising a “180 degree pivot.”

The former fracking executive is fully behind President Donald Trump’s plan to expand fossil fuel production in the U.S. while doing away with federal policies to mitigate global heating.

“I wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,” Wright said during the kickoff to the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference in Houston, as The New York Times reported. “The previous administration’s policy was focused myopically on climate change, with people as simply collateral damage.”

Wright has been dismissive of renewable energy, saying it makes up a small portion of the global energy mix. He pointed out that a quarter of the world’s energy is supplied by natural gas, with solar and wind producing roughly three percent.

“Beyond the obvious scale and cost problems, there is simply no physical way wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,” Wright said.

Wright argued that fossil fuels are important for the alleviation of poverty worldwide, saying reducing emissions too quickly could drive up global energy prices.

He called countries’ efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury a “sinister goal.”

Wright’s comments did not address the adverse effects of fossil fuels and global heating on the planet.

“One of the transformations caused by American fossil fuels was destroying our previously well-balanced climate and plunging some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Africa into a life dealing with extreme weather and lost homes and livelihoods,” said Mohamed Adow, founding director of NGO Power Shift Africa, a think tank based in Nairobi, as reported by The Guardian.

Oil and gas executives at the conference expressed agreement with Wright’s comments, saying fossil fuels are the best way to help people in the world’s developing nations.

“There are billions of people on this planet that still live sad, short, difficult lives because they live in energy poverty, and that’s a shame,” said Michael Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive, as The New York Times reported.

Many countries have been investing in renewable energy in recent years. In 2024, approximately $1.2 trillion was invested by nations in solar, wind, electric grids and batteries — more than the $1.1 trillion spent on gas, oil and coal infrastructure, the International Energy Agency said.

Calling himself a “climate realist,” Wright said that, while he didn’t deny global warming, rising greenhouse gas emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels were a “side effect of the modern world.”

“We have indeed raised global atmospheric CO2 concentration by 50 percent in the process of more than doubling human life expectancy, lifting almost all of the world’s citizens out of grinding poverty, launching modern medicine,” Wright said, as reported by The New York Times. “Everything in life involves trade-offs.”

Wright said he supports advanced geothermal and nuclear power, but that the Trump administration’s “all-of-the-above” energy approach was not likely to include wind farms, saying they were opposed by some communities.

“Wind has been singled out because it’s had a singularly poor record of driving up prices and getting increasing citizen outrage, whether you’re a farm or you’re in a coastal community,” Wright said.

Wright’s CERAWeek speech was not made available via livestream to the public, angering climate activists.

“As energy secretary, Chris Wright is supposed to serve the American people, not the fossil fuel industry,” said Allie Rosenbluth, campaign manager with nonprofit Oil Change International, as The Guardian reported. “It’s unacceptable, though not surprising, that this former fracking CEO is depriving the public of the chance to see what he’s saying to fossil fuel executives.”