Trump's Energy Department pick calls for increased LNG and nuclear energy
Chris Wright, the nominee of Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Energy Department told U.S. Senators during his confirmation hearing that his top priority was expanding domestic energy production, including liquefied gas and nuclear power.
Wright, 60 believes that fossil fuels will end world poverty and is a bigger problem than the "distant threat" of climate change, according to an article he wrote in his capacity as CEO of Liberty Energy, a company providing oilfield services.
Protesters interrupted the hearing several times, with one protester shouting about the fires that have killed so many people in Los Angeles as well as the role fossil fuels are playing in global warming.
Wright is in favor of some fossil fuel alternatives. These include small nuclear reactors that are not yet available commercially, as well as geothermal energy. He has criticised solar and wind energy as being insufficient.
Wright told the Senate Energy Committee that "previous administrations viewed energy not as the enormous national asset it is, but rather as a liability."
To compete on a global scale, we need to expand our energy production including commercial nuclear power and liquefied gas. We also have to reduce the cost of energy in America.
The shale gas boom will help the U.S. achieve a record for exports of super-cooled liquefied gas in 2023. The U.S. produces more oil and natural gas than any other nation ever did.
Wright, an engineer with a background in fusion energy who has studied the subject, is expected win a majority of 100 senators, currently controlled by Republicans. He will then step down as Liberty's CEO once confirmed.
Wright will replace Jennifer Granholm who has urged caution in the issuing of new LNG export permits, stating that unrestrained exports would increase emissions of gases attributed to climate change, and could raise fuel prices for home and business owners.
After meeting Wright, the top Democrat in the committee, Martin Heinrich from fossil fuel producing New Mexico, the two agreed the Energy Department must "speed up the expansion of interregional infrastructure to meet the skyrocketing demands for clean energy across the nation."
Heinrich told Wright that companies had invested more than $500 billion into clean energy following legislation that was passed in the last few years, including President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. He said that these programs should not be rolled back to protect clean energy jobs and clean energy.
Wright will work with Doug Burgum (Trump's nominee as interior secretary) to create a new energy advisory council.
Wright stated that the U.S. needs to remove obstacles in order to make progress with energy. Trump, the Republican who will take office on January 20, could declare a national emergency. This would allow him to expedite permits for new energy infrastructure and projects.
This move would be in line with Trump's plan to increase energy production as U.S. demand for power begins to rise, the first time since decades. It would also reverse Biden's decision to halt approvals of LNG imports.
Biden signed a landmark climate change law that included billions of dollars for alternative energy projects. Congress has yet to pass the necessary legislation to build transmission infrastructure to transport huge amounts of energy from high-tech projects such as renewables or planned new nuclear reactors. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger, Hugh Lawson, and Timothy Gardner)
(source: Reuters)
