There's a green haze on the horizon this morning. It turns out that so many anti-fracking, anti-fossil fuel, and anti-energy independence greens' heads exploded that the sun has been temporarily blotted out.
The cause for all the wailing and gnashing of teeth has been Donald Trump's latest appointment. Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, has been nominated to serve as secretary of energy.
Wright is expected to heed the call to "Drill, baby, drill!" while making America energy independent again.
Wright's appointment is being welcomed by the oil and gas industry Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, says that Wright's experience “gives him an important perspective that will inform his leadership” of the Department of Energy.
“We look forward to working with him once confirmed to bolster American geopolitical strength by lifting DOE’s pause on LNG export permits and ensuring the open access of American energy for our allies around the world,” said Sommers.
As you might imagine, the reaction from the green lobby was not very enthusiastic.
The senior vice president for climate and energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Jackie Wong, sounded like she needed a shower after hearing the news. She called Wright “a champion of dirty fossil fuels” and his nomination "a disastrous mistake."
“The Energy Department should be doing all it can to develop and expand the energy sources of the 21st century, not trying to promote the dirty fuels of the last century,” said Wong. “Given the devastating impacts of climate-fueled disasters, DOE’s core mission of researching and promoting cleaner energy solutions is more important now than ever.”
Is that really the Energy Department's "core mission"?
The Associated Press knows that the "core mission" of the Energy Department has nothing whatsoever to do with "promoting cleaner energy solutions."
The Energy Department is responsible for advancing energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States. The agency is in charge of maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons, oversees 17 national research laboratories and approves natural gas exports, as well as ensuring environmental cleanup of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. It also promotes scientific and technological research.
Senators from energy-producing states are excited at Wright's appointment. Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is slated to become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“He’s s an energy innovator who laid the foundation for America’s fracking boom. After four years of America last energy policy, our country is desperate for a secretary who understands how important American energy is to our economy and our national security,″ Barrasso said.
If confirmed, Wright will join North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to be interior secretary, as a key player on energy policy in a second Trump term. Wright will be a member of a new National Energy Council that Burgum will chair. The new panel will seek to establish U.S. “energy dominance” around the world, Trump said.
Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a conservative group that supports fossil fuels, said Wright would be “an excellent choice” for energy secretary. Pyle led Trump’s Energy Department’s transition team in 2016.
Wright might be considered one of Trump's top-tier picks. He has the brains, the expertise, and the know-how to take the shackles off the energy industry and make America preeminent again as the world's top energy producer.
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