WASHINGTON – On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Chris Wright, an oil industry executive known for his skepticism regarding climate change, to head the Department of Energy during his second term.

If confirmed, Wright, who is the CEO of Liberty Energy based in Colorado, will manage the department responsible for the nation’s energy resources, nuclear research and development, 17 national laboratories, and the cleanup of nuclear sites from the Cold War era.

Additionally, Wright will join Trump’s newly established Council of National Energy, which will be chaired by Doug Burgum, the nominee for Interior Secretary, according to Trump’s statement.

Trump remarked, “This team will promote U.S. energy dominance, which will help reduce inflation, win the AI competition against China and others, and enhance American diplomatic strength to help conclude wars globally.”

Wright is expected to align with the incoming Republican administration led by Trump, who has expressed intentions to reverse climate policies and clean energy investments introduced by the Biden administration.

In a LinkedIn video from 2023, Wright criticized the prevailing scientific view that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are leading to global warming.

“There is no climate crisis, nor are we undergoing an energy transition,” Wright stated.

During the recent presidential campaign, Trump also rejected the notion of climate change and propagated misleading information about climate science, including claims that have been widely discredited.

In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, designed to combat global warming through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. He also rolled back regulations aimed at limiting greenhouse gas outputs, which a 2020 analysis estimated could lead to an additional 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere.