Trump taps energy mogul to cut red tape and boost oil output
President-elect Donald Trump of the United States nominated entrepreneur Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy, as Secretary of Energy on Saturday. His task will be to "reduce administrative bureaucracy" to stimulate investment in fossil fuels.
According to Trump's press release, Chris, as Secretary of Energy, will play a pivotal role in fostering innovation, streamlining processes, and leading the way toward a new era of American prosperity and global peace.
Fossil fuels advocate in Trump's administration
Wright, a staunch advocate for the use of fossil fuels, is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil services company based in Denver. According to Reuters, he is expected to support Trump's plan to maximize oil and gas production and will seek ways to increase electricity generation.
Wright calls climate change activists alarmists and compared the Democrats' efforts to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism.
"There is no climate crisis, nor are we undergoing an energy transformation," he said in a video posted on his LinkedIn profile last year.
Trump himself has repeatedly called for increased oil drilling, echoing the slogan "Drill baby, drill."
Here's who Trump is counting on
President-elect Donald Trump has already announced several nominations for future U.S. secretaries of state. Among them are the hardline stance supporter, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a veteran who is set to become the U.S. Secretary of Defense, or the so-called head of the Pentagon.
Hegseth's nomination was particularly surprising to mainstream Republican politicians.
Trump also nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for his anti-vaccine views, as head of the Department of Health. RFK Jr. – as he is commonly known, is the son of Robert Kennedy, brother of President John F. Kennedy.
Recently, Kennedy has been trying to soften his image. He strongly dislikes being called an anti-vaxxer and defends against this label. In his election campaign before November 5th, he announced that he does not intend to prohibit vaccines but "wants to give people a choice."
