Fracking revenues: climate change skeptic should become US secretary of state

The boss and founder of oil services company Liberty Energy must cut red tape to stimulate investment in fossil fuels, Trump said.

Change in US climate policy
If the Senate follows Trump’s proposal, Wright would likely trigger a shift in U.S. climate policy toward fossil fuels. “There is no climate crisis and we are not in a transition when it comes to energy,” he said in a video on LinkedIn last year.

Wright caused a stir in 2019 when he drank fracking fluid on camera to demonstrate his supposed harmlessness. He compared the Democrats’ fight against global warming to Soviet communism.

In the US, the Department of Energy is responsible, among other things, for the country’s energy policy towards foreign countries, manages strategic petroleum reserves and implements financing and lending programs. The minister also oversees nuclear weapons, is responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste and manages 17 laboratories.

Increase oil production?
Under Biden, the country’s oil production reached a record. It is uncertain whether this can be increased under Trump. Electricity consumption in the US is increasing for the first time in two decades, driven by artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies.

Fracking involves extracting natural gas from layers of the Earth using chemicals and pressure. The method has been used intensively in the US for years, which has led to a huge increase in gas production there. It is highly controversial due to its high environmental risks.