{"id":256035,"date":"2025-03-10T18:36:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T18:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/u-s-energy-secretary-pledges-to-reverse-focus-on-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2025-03-10T18:36:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T18:36:05","slug":"u-s-energy-secretary-pledges-to-reverse-focus-on-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/u-s-energy-secretary-pledges-to-reverse-focus-on-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Energy Secretary Pledges to Reverse Focus on Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/10\/multimedia\/10cli-wright-01-gctm\/10cli-wright-01-gctm-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"U.S. Energy Secretary Pledges to Reverse Focus on Climate Change\" title=\"U.S. Energy Secretary Pledges to Reverse Focus on Climate Change\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Before a packed crowd of oil and gas executives on Monday, Chris Wright, the new U.S. energy secretary, delivered a scathing critique of the Biden administration\u2019s energy policies and efforts to fight climate change and promised a \u201c180 degree pivot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright, a former fracking executive, has emerged as the most forceful promoter of President Trump\u2019s plans to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/20\/climate\/trump-emergency-oil-gas.html\" title=\"\">expand American oil and gas production<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/02\/climate\/trump-us-climate-policy-changes.html\" title=\"\">dismantle virtually every federal policy<\/a> aimed at curbing global warming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,\u201d Mr. Wright said as he kicked off the CERAWeek by S&amp;P Global conference in Houston, the nation\u2019s biggest annual gathering of the energy industry. \u201cThe previous administration\u2019s policy was focused myopically on climate change, with people as simply collateral damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright\u2019s speech was greeted with enthusiastic applause.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was quite different from a year ago, when Jennifer Granholm, the energy secretary during the Biden administration, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240708233944\/https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/remarks-delivered-secretary-jennifer-granholm-ceraweek-2024\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">told<\/a> the same gathering that the transition to lower-carbon forms of energy like wind, solar and batteries was unstoppable. \u201cEven as we are the largest producer of oil and gas in the world,\u201d Ms. Granholm said, \u201cthe expansion of America\u2019s energy dominance to clean energy is striking.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright, however, was dismissive of renewable power, which he said played only a small role in the world\u2019s energy mix. Natural gas currently supplies 25 percent of raw energy globally, before it is converted into electricity or some other use. Wind and solar only supply about 3 percent, he said. He noted that gas also had a variety of other uses \u2014 it could be burned in furnaces to heat homes or used to make fertilizer or other chemicals \u2014 that were hard to replicate with other energy sources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBeyond the obvious scale and cost problems, there is simply no physical way wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,\u201d Mr. Wright said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright has argued that there is a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/12\/climate\/wright-trump-oil-gas-energy.html?searchResultPosition=5\" title=\"\">moral case for fossil fuels,<\/a> saying they are crucial for alleviating global poverty and that moving too quickly to cut emissions risks driving up energy prices around the world. He has denounced efforts by countries to stop adding greenhouse gas to the atmosphere by 2050, calling that a \u201csinister goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a conference in Washington <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/07\/climate\/africa-chris-wright-energy-fossil-fuels-electricity.html\" title=\"\">last week<\/a>, Mr. Wright said that African countries needed more energy of all kinds to lift themselves out of poverty, including coal, the most polluting fossil fuel. \u201cWe\u2019ve had years of Western countries shamelessly saying don\u2019t develop coal, coal is bad,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s just nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Houston on Monday, other oil and gas executives echoed Mr. Wright\u2019s remarks, pitching oil and gas as the best solution to energy poverty around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are billions of people on this planet that still live sad, short, difficult lives because they live in energy poverty, and that\u2019s a shame,\u201d said Michael Wirth, chief executive of Chevron. \u201cIt should be unacceptable but affordability had left the conversation, at least in the West.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent years, much of the world has been investing heavily in renewable energy. Last year, nations invested roughly $1.2 trillion in wind, solar, batteries and electric grids, slightly more than the $1.1 trillion they spent on oil, gas and coal infrastructure, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/world-energy-investment-2024\/overview-and-key-findings\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">according<\/a> to the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Wright warned against a shift to renewable energy that he said was likely to prove costly. \u201cEverywhere wind and solar penetration have increased significantly, prices went up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That is not always true. Texas <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/14849552\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">has seen its electricity prices decline slightly<\/a> over the past decade as wind and solar have grown rapidly and now supply more than one-quarter of the state\u2019s power. The costs of wind turbines and solar panels have dropped precipitously in the last decade. But some places, like California and Germany, have seen electricity prices rise significantly at the same time they ramped up their use of renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some energy executives at the conference were more optimistic about renewable energy. John Ketchum, the chief executive of NextEra Energy, the largest producer of wind and solar power in the United States, said that renewables were essential for meeting growing demand for electricity in the United States over the next few years \u2014 especially since there was a large backlog for new turbines that burn natural gas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Renewable energy \u201cis cheaper and it\u2019s available right now,\u201d Mr. Ketchum said. \u201cWhen you look at gas as a solution, as an example, to get your hands on a gas turbine and to actually get it built throughout the market, you\u2019re really looking at 2030, or later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In his speech, Mr. Wright sharply criticized the Biden administration for slowing the growth of natural gas exports. Last year, the Energy Department <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/26\/climate\/biden-lng-pause-climate.html\" title=\"\">paused approvals of new terminals<\/a> that export liquefied natural gas, saying that it was concerned about the environmental and price impacts of shipping more gas overseas. Despite the pause, the United States was still the world\u2019s largest exporter of natural gas in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday, Mr. Wright signed the fourth export approval since Mr. Trump took office, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/articles\/doe-issues-extension-delfin-lng-project\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">extending an approval<\/a> for the Delfin terminal off the coast of Louisiana. He said the Biden administration\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/17\/climate\/natural-gas-lng-export-risks-united-states.html\" title=\"\">review of gas exports<\/a> had found only modest impacts on global emissions and domestic U.S. prices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On the topic of climate change, Mr. Wright said he didn\u2019t deny that the planet was warming, calling himself a \u201cclimate realist.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he added that rising greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels \u2014 which have increased global average temperatures to their highest levels <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/climate.copernicus.eu\/copernicus-2023-hottest-year-record\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in at least 100,000 years<\/a> \u2014 were a \u201cside effect of building the modern world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have indeed raised global atmospheric CO2 concentration by 50 percent in the process of more than doubling human life expectancy, lifting millions of the world\u2019s lifting almost all of the world\u2019s citizens out of grinding poverty, launching modern medicine,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything in life involves trade-offs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright did not dwell on the downsides of climate change, which include the growing risks of heat waves, drought, floods and species extinction. He also did not address the costs of adapting to a hotter planet, which experts <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/resources\/adaptation-gap-report-2024\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">estimate could reach trillions of dollars<\/a> for developing countries alone this decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Instead, Mr. Wright rebuked Britain for slashing its greenhouse gas emissions faster than any other wealthy country, saying that doing so had driven key industries overseas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI find it sad and a bit ironic that once mighty steel and petrochemical industries of the United Kingdom have been displaced to Asia where the same products will be produced with higher greenhouse gas emissions, then loaded on a diesel powered ship back to the United Kingdom,\u201d Mr. Wright said. \u201cThe net result is higher prices and fewer jobs for U.K. citizens, higher global greenhouse gas emissions, and all of this is termed a climate policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright said he was not against low-carbon energy and supports advanced forms of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/11\/climate\/bill-gates-nuclear-wyoming.html\" title=\"\">nuclear power<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/28\/climate\/geothermal-energy-projects.html\" title=\"\">geothermal power<\/a>, which multiple startups in the United States are pursuing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he said that the administration\u2019s \u201call-of-the-above\u201d approach to energy likely would not extend to wind farms, citing opposition in some communities. President Trump has railed against wind farms, saying falsely they cause cancer. The administration <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/21\/climate\/wind-power-executive-order-trump.html\" title=\"\">has stopped approvals<\/a> for wind farms on public land and in federal waters and has threatened to block projects on private land.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWind has been singled out because it\u2019s had a singularly poor record of driving up prices and getting increasing citizen outrage, whether you\u2019re a farm or you\u2019re in a coastal community,\u201d Mr. Wright said. \u201cSo wind is a little bit of a different case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Trump administration\u2019s policies <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/28\/business\/energy-environment\/trump-oil-steel-tariffs.html\" title=\"\">are not uniformly popular<\/a> among oil and gas producers. Many companies have warned that Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs on steel and aluminum could raise prices for essential materials like pipes used to line new wells, while the constant threat of tariffs on Canadian oil could raise prices for refineries in the Midwest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Wright mostly sidestepped questions on the tariffs, saying that \u201cit\u2019s very early on\u201d and pointing out that inflation was low during Mr. Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Ivan Penn<!-- --> contributed reporting<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/climate\/energy-secretary-climate-change-fossil-fuels.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before a packed crowd of oil and gas executives on Monday, Chris Wright, the new U.S. energy secretary, delivered a scathing critique of the Biden administration\u2019s energy policies and efforts to fight climate change and promised a \u201c180 degree pivot.\u201d Mr. Wright, a former fracking executive, has emerged as the most forceful promoter of President [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/10\/multimedia\/10cli-wright-01-gctm\/10cli-wright-01-gctm-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[166934,487,170210,486,2988,170211,5711,23784,17434,60845,163262,5142,9431,34,221,163486,166933,99778],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256035"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256037,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256035\/revisions\/256037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}