March 11, 2025
Ramona du Houx
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’s energy policies and efforts to fight climate change, and promised a “180-degree pivot.”
The energy secretary., a former fracking executive, has emerged as the most forceful promoter of President Trump’s plans to expand American oil and gas production and dismantle virtually every federal policy aimed at curbing global warming.
“I wanted to play a role in reversing what I believe has been a very poor direction in energy policy,” Mr. Wright said as he kicked off the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, the nation’s biggest annual gathering of the energy industry. “The previous administration’s policy was focused myopically on climate change, with people as simply collateral damage.”
Meanwhile, dozens of nonprofit groups have been unable to access the federal government’s payment system. The E.P.A. hasn’t explained why they can not access funds allocated to them from the Inflation Reduction Act.
