Wright is the Right Choice for Secretary of Energy
A welcome changing of the guard
We’re excited to lay out our reasons for believing that Chris Wright will be a welcome breath of fresh air and common sense at the Department of Energy. But first, some housekeeping.
Isaac’s back from leave, and we’re diligently working through the backlog of projects that accumulated during his absence. We’ll be back to weekly posts in the not-too-distant future. Thanks to everyone who stuck with us during this time. You’re all Bad in the best way possible.
Mr. Wright Goes to Washington
This week, the U.S. Senate held a confirmation hearing for Chris Wright for the Secretary of Energy, and he delivered a powerful opening statement outlining his commitment to promoting all energy sources that are reliable and affordable. He also voiced support for growing the U.S. nuclear fleet and expanding liquefied natural gas.
You can watch his opening statement below.
On December 15th, Isaac wrote an oped in the Washington Times supporting Wright’s confirmation. We are confident that this article single-handely assured a smooth confirmation hearing 🙃
You can read an updated version of the article below.
Wright is the Right Choice for Secretary of Energy
There are few areas where Joe Biden has failed so spectacularly as energy.
The Biden administration unleashed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the private sector and allowed the fewest offshore drilling leases in American history. The results? Surging gasoline, electricity, and home heating costs have made inflation worse for all Americans.
Thankfully, President-elect Donald Trump is taking a different approach. He’s decided someone with a background in energy should run the Department of Energy.
To this effect, Trump has nominated Chris Wright as his energy secretary. Wright has a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. He’s the founder of Liberty Energy, the second-largest fracking company in the world, which provides energy to millions of Americans, and he is a strong supporter of expanding the use of nuclear power.
Mr. Trump's optimism for his nominee was palpable in this announcement of the pick. "As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new 'Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace,'" Mr. Trump said.
That is because, in part, Liberty is not the mega-polluting evil conglomerate the left is trying to make it seem. Since 2013, every new fracking fleet they’ve built has been low emission. They’ve worked to decrease the environmental impact of natural gas extraction and be good neighbors to surrounding communities by lowering the resulting noise and dust, reducing silica exposure and other potential harms for on-site workers.
Yet even as he’s worked to implement cleaner energy, Wright has also been instrumental in pushing back against the left’s anti-fracking hysteria. In 2019, he drank fracking fluid to show it wasn’t dangerous. He’s also assailed the term “carbon pollution” as misleading—and he’s right. If carbon dioxide is a pollutant, then every single breathing animal is a threat to the planet.
The last thing climate-focused Democrats want is common sense at the Department of Energy. Their attack dogs have zeroed in on an interview Wright gave to a conservative media outlet where he said of climate change that there were “probably almost as many positive changes as there are negative changes.”
Among the positive changes that can result from higher temperatures, Wright listed greater plant growth, more agriculture productivity, and fewer deaths from extreme cold weather.
Science suggests he has a point. Greenhouses pump more carbon dioxide into their grow houses to stimulate plant growth in a process called carbon dioxide fertilization. More carbon dioxide also allows plants to use water more efficiently, boosting yields while also reducing inputs.
But such a nuanced take runs counter to the left’s climate change orthodoxy, which holds that rising temperatures are going to kill us all unless we atone. Complexity, let alone debate, is not on the agenda.
When historians write about the Biden administration, there will no doubt be a section on its self-destructive policies regarding energy production. Rather than harness the “black gold” beneath our feet to keep gasoline, oil heating, and other forms of energy affordable, the White House restricted energy exploration and spent billions on experimental alternative schemes that seem destined to fail in the long run. That drove up costs for farmers, truckers, and manufacturers, which in turn drove up the costs of almost every good in the nation.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Wright promise to correct their course. By expanding energy exploration and production, more supply will hit the market, and prices will finally drop. This is basic economics as much as it is common sense.
While President Trump strongly advocates for a common sense approach to energy, his detractors are adamant that alternative energy is the only way forward—no matter the cost to American consumers. Mr. Wright embodies the president’s view.
The left's problem is that Wright is skeptical of their preferred sources of clean energy, so-called “renewables.” Wright has pointed out that wind turbines and solar panels require massive amounts of land and battery storage for when the wind stops blowing or it gets cloudy. These energy sources are also not really that clean. The rechargeable batteries in electric vehicles, for example, are dependent on cobalt from African mines, which brutalize the local landscape and whose working conditions one expert compared to “modern-day slavery.”
The current fire at Moss Landing, the nation’s largest battery storage facility, highlights the energy and environmental challenges of a grid powered by wind, solar, and battery storage.
We can’t run a country on to fantasies about green energy. Today, these energy sources are inefficient, costly, require government subsidies, and are incapable of meeting a growing economy's energy demands. Relying solely on renewables would leave American families and businesses vulnerable to blackouts and skyrocketing energy costs, all while increasing dependence on foreign resources for critical materials.
Instead, we need a balanced energy policy prioritizing affordability, reliability, and national security. By embracing innovation and leveraging all energy sources, including coal, nuclear, and clean natural gas, we can chart a path forward that protects the environment and the prosperity of the American people.
Most excellent. There’s no doubt that Chris Wright might be the single best cabinet position nominee in my lifetime. Certainly, there’s never been an energy secretary who is so clearly qualified for the position.
The most interesting point might be that the greens really don’t know what’s coming. I do not know Mr. Wright but if he can be the pro energy evangelist and can explain to the American people why anthropogenic climate change is so minimal, likely a net positive, and certainly worth the trade off for all the positives that fossil fuels give mankind, he could not only change the narrative, I dare say he could change the world.
We need people like the a public voice to say out loud that fossil fuels made the modern world, from life saving plastics, to fertilizers needed to grow enough food, to cheap, reliable, full-time, scalable, plentiful energy that allows man to protect itself against the cold and heat, to housing that protects us from storms, to water and sewer treatment systems (and more).
I don't know that there can be a clearer example of the difference between the Trump administration and the Biden administration than Mr Wright. Competence and knowledge in his field vs. ticking personal characteristic check boxes.