Energy Secretary Chris Wright has sharply criticized the Biden administration’s approach to energy policy, accusing it of steering the nation into peril with substantial subsidies for what he deems unreliable energy sources like solar power, as well as depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
In a candid discussion alongside his wife, Liz, on “The Katie Miller Podcast” this past Tuesday, Wright voiced strong disapproval of the energy strategies implemented under President Joe Biden, arguing they have significantly impacted the nation. “If you get energy wrong, you destroy your society,” Wright asserted during the interview.
Wright further argued, “Another reason I think President Trump won is because the Biden administration practically drove our energy system into a ditch. It’s just outrageous. Thankfully, we were able to pivot before causing too much irreparable damage. However, we’ve squandered trillions of dollars and now face the challenge of repairing our energy infrastructure in the Gulf. If the damage continues, we can expect elevated energy prices for a prolonged period.”
Addressing concerns about lagging behind global powers like China in solar energy, Wright dismissed the issue, claiming that eliminating solar power entirely would barely impact the U.S. “If you wiped all the solar panels off the planet tomorrow, no one would notice. We are currently losing 10% of global oil production, which is a massive crisis. If every solar panel disappeared tomorrow, the world would only lose 1.2% of its energy,” he explained.
Wright also dismissed concerns about falling behind major countries like China regarding sources like solar power, pointing out that losing all solar power “wouldn’t even be a hiccup” for the country.
“If you wiped all the solar panels off the planet tomorrow, no one would notice. We were losing 10% of sort of global oil production today. It is a massive crisis. If all of the solar was zeroed out tomorrow, the world would lose 1.2% of energy,” Wright said.
He emphasized that while he is generally “pro-solar,” having worked in the solar industry, he was against subsidies to less reliable sources that drive up electricity prices. Wright instead suggested that nuclear power has a “very bright future” despite being “unfairly maligned” by climate activists.
“It’s so much easier to sell fear than to sell reassurance,” Wright said. “You know, that’s the asymmetry in politics and activism… But the environmental industry really has become sort of a fear-selling industry. And boy, you can raise billions of dollars to scare people about things like nuclear power or climate change, where there’s like a kernel of something there, but they’re just wildly exaggerated. And unfortunately, it’s been effective.”
He further criticized the Biden administration for draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas prices and “do well” during the 2022 midterm elections while praising the Trump administration‘s efforts to replenish it.
“At the end of next year, we’ll have more oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve than we did when President Trump took office, meaningfully more oil than when he took office,” Wright said.
Biden’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Wright has been critical of the Biden administration since he began his position as President Donald Trump’s energy secretary last year. In May, he claimed that the Biden administration “strangled” the state of Alaska with more regulations than North Korea, Iran and Venezuela combined.
“Alaska, a state that has had more sanctions, more restrictions on production of oil and gas in Alaska than everything we did to Iran and Venezuela and North Korea if they produced any combined,” he said. “You know, the last administration just strangled Alaska. This awesome state of immense natural resources.”
