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US Energy Secretary Chris Wright pledged Monday to prioritize fossil fuels and deprioritize climate change in federal energy policy, signaling a sharp reversal from the Biden administration. Wright made the announcement at a major energy industry conference, citing the Trump administration's efforts to cut red tape on oil projects and boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
"The Trump administration will end the Biden administration's irrational quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens," Wright told a packed auditorium for the annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) conference.
Since returning to Washington less than two months ago, Trump and his team have overhauled the existing economic order at a dizzying pace, launching trade wars against allies and hollowing government agencies the president and his allies dislike.
Trump made energy policy a central part of his agenda with his day-one "Unleashing American Energy" executive order, promising during his inaugural address to "end the Green New Deal" in favor of "that liquid gold under our feet." Environmentalists have criticized these shifts as leaving the world vulnerable to catastrophic climate change.
Wright's "speech made clear that he and the rest of the Trump administration are ready to sacrifice our communities and climate for the profits of the fossil fuel industry," said Allie Rosenbluth, US campaign manager for Oil Change International, which planned a rally in downtown Houston outside the CERA event.
Energy played a key supporting role in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, in which he pointed to higher gasoline prices as a reason more production was needed, embodied by his slogan: "Drill, Baby, Drill."
Trump's January 20 executive order represents a potentially wide-ranging attack on tax incentives which had been embraced by energy companies to advance billions of dollars of energy transition projects. These projects were connected to laws enacted during Biden's presidency to mitigate climate change.
