Energy Secretary Chris Wright vows to reverse Biden climate policies, says renewables can’t replace natural gas

HOUSTON — Energy Secretary Chris Wright slammed the Biden administration’s climate policies on Monday, vowing to support natural gas production.

“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 dismissed the previous administration’s focus on climate as “myopic.”

Natural gas is responsible for 43% of U.S. electricity production. There “is simply no physical way that wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas,” Wright said.

The energy secretary rejected accusations that he is climate change denier. Wright has previously said there is no climate crisis and carbon dioxide emissions are not a pollutant.

“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,” Wright said. The energy secretary called Biden’s policies “economically destructive to our businesses and politically polarizing.”

“The cure was far more destructive than the disease,” he said.