Chris Wright, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Energy Department, has denied the well-established connection between climate change and extreme weather, claiming that storms are not getting more intense.
“We have seen no increase in the frequency or intensity of hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts or floods despite endless fear-mongering of the media, politicians and activists,” Wright, the chairman and CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy, said in a video posted on LinkedIn last year.
While he acknowledged that greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to global warming, he also said in the video that “there is no ‘climate crisis.’”
He made similar comments during a House Financial Services hearing this year, saying, according to prepared remarks: “Although increased GHG emissions are generally associated with warmer temperatures, there remains significant scientific uncertainty around feedback effects. … But global temperature rise is—by itself—not the concern. In fact, millions of lives have been saved by reducing cold-related deaths.”
Climate change’s harmful impacts are recognized by a broad scientific consensus.
The United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says climate change is causing more frequent and intense heat waves and is likely increasing the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation. It also says hurricanes are likely becoming more intense and that studies have shown that climate change increases rainfall during these storms.
NASA says that more greenhouse gas emissions “will lead to more climate extremes and widespread damaging effects across our planet.”
The emissions released through the burning of fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change. Wright has also sought to downplay other downsides of such fuels’ use. Notably, in 2019, he drank fracking fluid on camera as part of an effort to say that it’s not dangerous.
Fracking is a process that involves injecting rocks with a mix of water, sand and chemicals to extract oil and gas. Studies have linked it to water pollution, childhood cancers and earthquakes.
“The biggest challenge with energy in the world today isn’t toxic chemicals in frac fluid, it’s the fact that so many people around the world don’t have access to energy,” Wright said in the 2019 video.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed climate change himself, falsely claiming it is a “hoax,” and staffed his first administration with a number of skeptics of climate change science. His incoming vice president JD Vance also expressed skepticism about the scientific consensus linking climate change and carbon emissions during his debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) last month.
In selecting Wright to lead the Energy Department, Trump praised him as a “leading technologist and entrepreneur” and cited his work not only in oil and gas but also in nuclear, solar and geothermal power.
But Wright’s past comments downplaying the negative impacts of climate change and fracking have sparked concern from environmentalists and Democrats about the prospect of him heading up the agency, which oversees loans, grants and research for energy development, as well as the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
“Chris Wright is a science-denying, self-serving, sanctimonious fracker who consistently puts the wants of energy producers over the needs of American energy consumers,” said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) in a written statement.
“Chris Wright is a climate denier who has profited off of polluting our communities and endangering our health and future. So, of course Donald Trump finds him fit to lead the Department of Energy, where he’ll be hell-bent on abusing his power to prolong the use of deadly fossil fuels and give his corporate polluter executive friends a rubber stamp for the unfettered buildout of LNG exports,” said Ben Jealous, executive director of the Sierra Club, in a written statement.
Wright’s significant financial contributions to Trump’s reelection campaign are also garnering scrutiny.
Over the summer, he made two contributions of $175,000 and $53,990 to the Trump 47 joint fundraising committee, which allocates funds to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and, once the contribution limits are maxed out, to other political committees. The RNC received $41,300 from Wright through the joint fundraising committee in July.
Fellow Trump mega donor Harold Hamm, who gave $614,000 to the Trump 47 Committee as well as $200,000 to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc., recently told publication Hart Energy that Wright was his top choice for energy secretary.
“Mega-donor and oil and gas billionaire Harold Hamm hand-picked Chris Wright for Trump’s Energy Department, thanks to boatloads of campaign cash from Hamm’s Big Oil buddies,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in a post on the social platform X.
“Probably didn’t hurt that Wright himself gave $$$ to pro-Trump super PACs and the Republican National Committee after Trump solicited a fossil fuel quid pro quo at Mar-a-Lago. This cartoonish pay-to-play corruption is a preview of coming attractions for Trump’s Washington,” Whitehouse added.
Whitehouse was referring to Trump’s solicitation of $1 billion in campaign cash from the oil and gas industry. The Washington Post reported that Trump said the donations would be a “deal” for oil executives because of the tax cuts and relaxed regulations he would introduce if reelected, but a source told The Hill that discussion was not framed as any sort of quid pro quo.
Kedric Payne with the Campaign Legal Center said the donations don’t necessarily raise any ethical issues.
“It’s not unusual for a political appointee to also be a campaign contributor to the president,” said Payne, the group’s vice president, general counsel and senior ethics director.
“When it appears that someone is paying to get access and influence in government, then that’s always going to diminish public trust in government,” he said, but added that it does not appear that any ethics rules were violated.
However, he said that ethically, Wright will have to divest from any financial interests in the energy industry.
Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, agreed that the appointment didn’t appear to raise legal issues, but she said, the donation “takes on, certainly, the appearance of ethical concerns.”
“There’s a question about, are they representing the public interest, or are they representing … the oil and gas industry,” she said.
Wright is not the only Trump pick to contribute to the campaign this cycle. Elon Musk, who the president-elect tapped to lead a government efficiency commission, put more than $100 million toward Trump’s reelection.
While Wright has received criticism from Democrats, it’s not clear whether their concerns will make a difference in terms of his confirmation prospects. With Republicans expected to hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, at least four Republicans would have to oppose his confirmation in order to block him.
Other nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Matt Gaetz are considered to be much more controversial.
Taylor Giorno contributed.
