Abby Schultz

Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright said on Wednesday that as secretary of energy, he would be an "unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable, and secure American energy."

At his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Wright also emphasized that the U.S. must strengthen and expand the nation's electrical grid, as demand for electricity skyrockets, and it needs to produce more commercial nuclear energy and liquefied natural gas, while leading "the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs" in the production and use of fossil fuels.

Wright, nominated by president-elect Donald Trump, said that next-generation geothermal energy "has potentially significant running room to become a meaningful source of energy in the future." He also recognized the contributions of solar energy and wind power.

Wright, the founder and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, which provides components to support hydraulic fracking, among other services for the oil-and-gas industry, said climate change caused by the combustion of fossil fuels is a real and challenging global issue, and that the solution is "to evolve our energy system."

Calling Wright an "unrestrained enthusiast for fossil fuels," Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat from Colorado, asked whether the nominee had contingency plans to address climate change. Hickenlooper noted that he and Wright, who founded the oil-and-gas firm Liberty Energy in Denver in 2011, have often held "robust discussions" on energy and climate.

Wright said climate change is a real and challenging global issue, and that the solution is "to evolve our energy system."

"Are there things we can do -- investments, together through the Department of Energy, to accelerate development of new energy technologies that are really the only pathway to address climate change? Absolutely," Wright added. "Energy and climate is a global problem, but America should be the leader."

The hearing, led by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, was largely congenial. Several senators on both sides of the aisle offered praise for Wright's background as a scientist and entrepreneur, but Democrats expressed frustration that Wright's ethics and financial disclosure forms weren't filed until Tuesday evening, less than 24 hours before the hearing. The proceedings also were interrupted five times in the first hour by protesters holding signs referencing "big oil" and citing the wildfires in Los Angeles.

The wildfires were also a central concern of committee member Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, who noted that they have engulfed 40,000 acres of land in Los Angeles and so far claimed at least two dozen lives.

"It's clear that these fires only reached the size and the scale that they have because of unseasonably dry vegetation and extremely high winds, both of which are the direct result of climate change," Padilla said. He then challenged Wright to disavow an earlier social media post that said, "The hype over wildfires is just hype to justify more impoverishment from bad government policies."

After stating again that "climate change is a real and global phenomenon, " Wright, when prodded, added, "I stand by my past comment."

Wright also stated his support for strengthening the National Nuclear Security Administration to "make progress on the safety and security of the stockpile of our nuclear weapons." He called the nation's nuclear arsenal the "ultimate guarantor of our sovereignty."

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, asked Wright if he could assure him that the DOE would continue to support grid transmission projects to boost reliability and save customers money, even though Project 2025 -- the playbook of recommendations for the administration by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank -- recommended eliminating the grid deployment office.

Wright responded, "Yes, I'm aligned with you and will seek to find the best ways to improve our transmission grid, including expansion and new lines."

Write to Abby Schultz at abby.schultz@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2025 16:57 ET (21:57 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.