Harshly criticizing the Biden administration's climate policies as "myopic," Energy Secretary Chris Wright vowed on Monday to back natural gas production, CNBC reported.
"The Trump administration will end the Biden administration's irrational, quasi-religious policies on climate change that imposed endless sacrifices on our citizens," Wright said at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference.
The energy secretary added that there "is simply no physical way that wind, solar, and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas," which is responsible for 43% of U.S. electricity production.
Wright insisted that "the Trump administration will treat climate change for what it is — a global physical phenomenon that is a side effect of building the modern world."
Calling Biden's policies "economically destructive to our businesses and politically polarizing," Wright said that "the cure was far more destructive than the disease," adding that the Trump administration is pursuing a policy of more energy production and infrastructure to back the reindustrialization of the United States.
When asked whether the current administration is targeting wind at the same time it is seeking more energy, Wright said that offshore wind development is "incredibly high priced, an incredibly huge investment, and a large footprint on the local communities, so it's been very unpopular for people who live near offshore wind turbines."
Emphasizing at a press conference that the Trump administration supports anything that adds to "affordable, reliable, secure energy," Wright reiterated that "wind has been singled out, because it's had a singularly poor record of driving up prices."