I'm writing this from Ireland, my first time ever there or anywhere in Europe, and all the people I've talked to are uniformly horrified at the Trump Administration. It's also interesting to see the long tradition of Irish economic hardship hitting the young, who are currently leaving Ireland for Australia and Canada, reportedly. I asked them if they are considering the US and the answer is "absolutely not!"
Thank you for writing a detailed analysis of Chris Wright's lies. I get so frustrated reading them. I wrote my own response recently, too. "DOE's head has an absurd view of energy.
DOE Secretary Chris Wright argues in the Economist that Biden's "climate zealotry" led to "diminished life opportunities for citizens" and set back human advancement. A preposterous perspective."
What I don't get is why more outlets don't cover the blatant climate denial being said by top appointee on energy. Like how can anyone who has covered climate not just lose their mind at his "couple of degrees over 20 minutes comment" and write how we are just all completely doomed lol
"To justify selling more gas to Europe, Wright said renewables were responsible for raising electricity bills in the United States." Total BS as we know.
Ha ha. We went rooftop solar two years ago in coastal Nor Cal. Following installation in late 2023, until 6 months ago (at the 75% NEM "rate") we went from average $260-$300+/month billing to around $35-$60/month. Now for the last 6 months our electric bill has been: "No Balance Due." I'm afraid I've run out of expletives for the likes of, well all of them.
PS, Like the Irish update. We were there this past spring and yes to what Ken said. Btw, when we are abroad and folks ask, where you from? We just tell them the truth, California. Because we can. Always gets an affirmative nod.
Along with renaming the DoD as DoWAR, maybe next we just rename DOE as DoOil.
Even normally staid establishment bipartisan energy commentators are starting to get a bit freaked out. Over at HeatMap, Robinson Meyer writes "What is going on with Chris Wright's Twitter?" Even my Senator Frackenlooper, who voted to confirm him was dumping on Wright's anti-wind/solar policies on a podcast. (There is a whole theme of "moderates" voting for far right nominees and then saying, "Gosh, I didn't think he/she would..." but that would take 1000s of words.)
A big group of "energy educators" with FF or nuke sympathies have developed a whole ecosystem of anti-wind/solar/electrification "talking points." The FF ones are more prone to this CO2 is good for you jive. It seemed climate educators had been good at debunking that particular BS, but maybe not as much as I thought. I do think they have been somewhat lacking on promoting the "energy transition," partly due to avoiding "controversy."
Hey I went to northern Lake Michigan this summer. It was 73F instead of 70F, so I stayed in the water for longer and that must have been worth something. Traverse City seems be booming, maybe because it's not frozen for 9 months anymore. But then again the lake level is up and eating away at the beaches and bluffs. And early blooms are backfiring against the cherry trees, Lyme disease is moving north, warm water toxic algae blooms are increasing, and...
In covering Chris Wright's trip, once again, the media by and large is presenting both sides as if they have equal merit when they clearly don't. This guy is a hack, pure and simple. Major outlets/publications owe it to their readers to dispel false narratives like his.
I find it interesting that Chris Wright is spewing all this nonsense when the fossil fuel disinformation bandwagon had long abandoned outright climate denial, according to Michael Mann in his book 'The New Climate War'. They've realised that the sheer weight of scientific evidence against them was impossible to resist and so they were, until lately, adopting a three-pronged argument against state action to curb CO2 emissions and change to renewables.
Firstly, they encourage fatalism. It's too late to change now. The dramatic changes in our weather caused by increased emissions are baked-in, so to speak, so the best thing to do now is to adapt to the new reality.
Secondly, they say it's too expensive to totally abandon fossil fuels. We would all be driven back to the Stone Age.
Finally, they deflect the calls for policy action by government by stressing the importance of individual rather than collective responsibility for climate change. I mean, just look at those celebrities campaigning for climate action and jet-setting around the world - how irresponsible and hypocritical of them.
It's almost as though the Intelligent Design people had thrown in the towel on evolution and gone back to basic Creationism (and there's some evidence that this is actually happening now in the US).
The reason for this reversion to the tired, old nonsense about climate change science being a hoax is, of course, the election of Donald Trump.
He's just part of the same crew that Trump hired to kiss his backside. He'll do as he's told and nothing more as he, like the others, thinks that Trump will back him in whatever he says or does. Little does he know.
I'm writing this from Ireland, my first time ever there or anywhere in Europe, and all the people I've talked to are uniformly horrified at the Trump Administration. It's also interesting to see the long tradition of Irish economic hardship hitting the young, who are currently leaving Ireland for Australia and Canada, reportedly. I asked them if they are considering the US and the answer is "absolutely not!"
Thank you for writing a detailed analysis of Chris Wright's lies. I get so frustrated reading them. I wrote my own response recently, too. "DOE's head has an absurd view of energy.
DOE Secretary Chris Wright argues in the Economist that Biden's "climate zealotry" led to "diminished life opportunities for citizens" and set back human advancement. A preposterous perspective."
https://jimwalkerjjw.substack.com/p/does-head-ai-human-progress-and-well
Excellent piece, Emily. Nicely done.
Thank you!
This 47th administration can't end soon enough. I feel bad for my neighbours to the south and the world as a dunking ground for the rich.
What I don't get is why more outlets don't cover the blatant climate denial being said by top appointee on energy. Like how can anyone who has covered climate not just lose their mind at his "couple of degrees over 20 minutes comment" and write how we are just all completely doomed lol
Thank you for this excellent article!
"To justify selling more gas to Europe, Wright said renewables were responsible for raising electricity bills in the United States." Total BS as we know.
Ha ha. We went rooftop solar two years ago in coastal Nor Cal. Following installation in late 2023, until 6 months ago (at the 75% NEM "rate") we went from average $260-$300+/month billing to around $35-$60/month. Now for the last 6 months our electric bill has been: "No Balance Due." I'm afraid I've run out of expletives for the likes of, well all of them.
PS, Like the Irish update. We were there this past spring and yes to what Ken said. Btw, when we are abroad and folks ask, where you from? We just tell them the truth, California. Because we can. Always gets an affirmative nod.
Along with renaming the DoD as DoWAR, maybe next we just rename DOE as DoOil.
Even normally staid establishment bipartisan energy commentators are starting to get a bit freaked out. Over at HeatMap, Robinson Meyer writes "What is going on with Chris Wright's Twitter?" Even my Senator Frackenlooper, who voted to confirm him was dumping on Wright's anti-wind/solar policies on a podcast. (There is a whole theme of "moderates" voting for far right nominees and then saying, "Gosh, I didn't think he/she would..." but that would take 1000s of words.)
A big group of "energy educators" with FF or nuke sympathies have developed a whole ecosystem of anti-wind/solar/electrification "talking points." The FF ones are more prone to this CO2 is good for you jive. It seemed climate educators had been good at debunking that particular BS, but maybe not as much as I thought. I do think they have been somewhat lacking on promoting the "energy transition," partly due to avoiding "controversy."
Hey I went to northern Lake Michigan this summer. It was 73F instead of 70F, so I stayed in the water for longer and that must have been worth something. Traverse City seems be booming, maybe because it's not frozen for 9 months anymore. But then again the lake level is up and eating away at the beaches and bluffs. And early blooms are backfiring against the cherry trees, Lyme disease is moving north, warm water toxic algae blooms are increasing, and...
In covering Chris Wright's trip, once again, the media by and large is presenting both sides as if they have equal merit when they clearly don't. This guy is a hack, pure and simple. Major outlets/publications owe it to their readers to dispel false narratives like his.
I find it interesting that Chris Wright is spewing all this nonsense when the fossil fuel disinformation bandwagon had long abandoned outright climate denial, according to Michael Mann in his book 'The New Climate War'. They've realised that the sheer weight of scientific evidence against them was impossible to resist and so they were, until lately, adopting a three-pronged argument against state action to curb CO2 emissions and change to renewables.
Firstly, they encourage fatalism. It's too late to change now. The dramatic changes in our weather caused by increased emissions are baked-in, so to speak, so the best thing to do now is to adapt to the new reality.
Secondly, they say it's too expensive to totally abandon fossil fuels. We would all be driven back to the Stone Age.
Finally, they deflect the calls for policy action by government by stressing the importance of individual rather than collective responsibility for climate change. I mean, just look at those celebrities campaigning for climate action and jet-setting around the world - how irresponsible and hypocritical of them.
It's almost as though the Intelligent Design people had thrown in the towel on evolution and gone back to basic Creationism (and there's some evidence that this is actually happening now in the US).
The reason for this reversion to the tired, old nonsense about climate change science being a hoax is, of course, the election of Donald Trump.
He's just part of the same crew that Trump hired to kiss his backside. He'll do as he's told and nothing more as he, like the others, thinks that Trump will back him in whatever he says or does. Little does he know.
Another "Unprecedented" example of the corruption in our new authoritarian leaders. And we continue to subsidize big oil to the tune of $34.8B annually. Check it our on this "Oil Change International" link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W3iCRkgRq4CeXIAHm3vMOUOxujE_dJc-C2lYOERo3hk/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0