Chris Wright, nominated to lead the Department of Energy, received a generally warm welcome from senators of both parties at his Senate committee confirmation hearing Wednesday—despite raucous protests from climate activists.
Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy, a natural gas company based in his home state of Colorado.
Wright made clear in his opening statement before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that he sees energy—no matter its source—as the safeguard of America’s economy and defense.
“Energy is the essential agent to change that enables everything that we do,” said Wright. “A highly energized society can bring health, wealth, and opportunity for all.”
At various points throughout the hearing, climate activists in the audience erupted into shouts, accusing the senators of asking softball questions, and placing the blame for the wildfires in Southern California on energy executives such as Wright. They were quickly escorted from the hearing.
That was in sharp contrast with the general friendliness offered to Wright by most of the Democratic senators. One of the warmest welcomes Wright received was from Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., who joked about a friendly argument the two had at a dinner party.
“We were almost legendary, probably 12 or 13 years ago, at a fancy Easter dinner in the middle of the day. We got rather heated about some of the issues around energy,” said Hickenlooper with a smile.
“And I think what was interesting was, my wife was very worried about our hosts and us being invited back. Whereas, I don’t think Chris and I took any offense at all.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., told The Daily Signal that personal relationships like that with Democratic senators are likely what made the process smoother than tense hearings, such as the one Tuesday for Pete Hegseth to be defense secretary.
“Obviously, he had a personal relationship with Hickenlooper. He was very respected and in his personal relationship, they had civilly disagreed and came away with a great deal of respect for each other.”
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told the Daily Signal that the friendliness of Wright’s hearing was the result of his strong character.
“I think it’s more a reflection on the quality of the nominee, Chris Wright,” Daines said.
“It’s not easy to get bipartisan outcomes on the Department of Energy and Natural Resources Committee, having served on the committee for many years. And he demonstrates that we have a very thoughtful, pragmatic results-oriented scientist in Chris Wright to be the secretary of energy, and I think they realize he’s not an ideologue. He’s a pragmatist.”
However, some committee members were more hostile. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii—who on Tuesday had attacked Hegseth with accusations of drunkenness and sexual impropriety—also took a hostile tone with Wright, asserting that he attended a meeting of oil executives with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump last April, at which Trump supposedly requested $1 billion from them in exchange for oil-drilling leases on federal lands.
Wright fired back at Hirono, saying that the meeting was “quite a bit different than what you described” and that “the president put forward no such deal.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., also pressured Wright, albeit with a softer tone, asking Wright what the viable sources of energy are for the United States.
Wright replied that “every source of energy that either today, or through technological innovation, can be a growth engine for affordable, reliable, secure energy,” would count in that category, after mentioning natural gas, geothermal energy, and nuclear power.
Cortez Masto admonished Wright for not having mentioned solar power, but applauded his openness to energy sources beyond fossil fuels.
This general spirit of compromise continued throughout the hearing. At one point, Hickenlooper asked Wright about his view of climate change.
“If [climate change] goes faster than [the current rate], do you think we should have a strategic plan, like, ready?” the Colorado lawmaker asked.
Wright responded, “I’ve studied and followed data and the evolution of climate change for at least 20 years now. It is a global issue. It is a real issue. It’s a challenging issue, and the solution for climate change is to evolve our energy system.”
In Wright’s view, the only path to a cleaner energy future is by developing improved technology and alternative sources of energy.
“I’ve worked on that most all of my career,” he added. “In nuclear, in solar and geothermal, and new battery storage technology now.”
“Do I wish we could make faster progress? Absolutely. Are the things we can do … to accelerate development of new energy technologies that are really the only pathway to address climate change? Absolutely.”
The cordial nature of the hearing may have come from an awareness on Democratic senators’ part of the extent to which President Joe Biden’s aggressive position on emissions controls and climate policy contributed to Trump’s victory in November.
In Wright, Trump has chosen an Energy Department nominee who—at least on Wednesday—was capable of finding compromise with the Democratic Party. If confirmed, Wright will have to deal with Biden’s legacy on energy policy, as the sitting president recently instituted bans on offshore drilling by executive order.
Daines told The Daily Signal that he’s confident that those bans will be rescinded by Trump to clear the way for Wright.
“I’m confident that President Trump, whether it’s through executive orders—or through Congressional Review Act actions from Congress—that we will reverse many of these radical and far-reaching actions that President Biden is taking,” the Montana lawmaker said.
