The social media platform took the video down, claiming it violated its policy on spam and scams before restoring it the next day, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Loading
Wright, who has no political experience, has written extensively on the need for more fossil fuel production to lift people out of poverty.
He has stood out among oil and gas executives for his confrontational, freewheeling style.
In a keynote address to oil and gas industry figures this year, Wright has said “there’s no such thing as renewable energy”, adding that the target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 was “sinister”.
“Net zero 2050: zero chance of this happening, but it’s actually a sinister goal because we spend an insane amount of money pretending we’re going to actually achieve this,” he said.
He added that the net result has been to “make energy more expensive, less reliable and impoverish people”.
Expansion of nuclear power
As energy secretary, Wright would oversee US energy diplomacy, administer petroleum reserves – which Trump has said he wants to replenish – and run programs to advance new energy technologies.
Donald Trump lifted an Obama-era policy that curtailed the financing of coal-fired power plants overseas.Credit: Bloomberg
Wright will also probably be involved in the expansion of nuclear power, an energy source popular with both Republicans and Democrats, as well as marshalling the country’s ageing nuclear weapons complex, waste disposal and 17 national labs.
His predecessor, Jennifer Granholm, is a supporter of electric vehicles, emerging energy sources such as geothermal power and a backer of carbon-free wind, solar and nuclear energy.
Loading
Announcing his nomination, the president-elect said that Wright “has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in energy”. As energy secretary, he “will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape and ushering in a new ‘golden age of American prosperity and global peace’,” Trump continued.
A self-described tech nerd, Wright studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 2011 founded Liberty, now a $US2.8 billion ($4.3 billion) company heavily involved in fracking for extracting shale gas.
Wright, whose compensation in 2021 was $US4.6 million, has railed against cautious executives, saying he thinks that is a mistake regarding climate issues.
“They want to be respected business leaders. They don’t want to be told they’re lying, or [that] they’re spreading misinformation,” Wright told the Wall Street Journal. “I think we should speak more honestly, and less and less appeasement-oriented.”
Chris Wright has said “there’s no such thing as renewable energy”.Credit: Bloomberg
Casting himself as a straight talker, Wright has repeatedly called out a perceived lack of transparency among climate scientists and politicians.
“We want new energies, but let’s just be honest, let’s call them alternative energies or new energies, don’t call them clean energy because there’s no such thing as clean energy or dirty energy.
“All energy sources have different trade-offs – let’s just be honest about that.”
The Telegraph, London
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
