The newly elected US President Donald Trump said he would nominate Chris Wright – executive director of the oil company "Liberty Energy", for Minister of Energy, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Wright is the founder and CEO of Denver-based "Liberty Energy" (Liberty Energy), which is a major provider of services in the energy sector in North America. Wright is expected to support Trump's plan to maximize oil and gas production as well as find ways to increase electricity production.
Wright is also likely to follow Trump's stance against global cooperation in the fight against climate change.
Wright has criticized environmental activists for creating unnecessary anxiety among people and has compared the Democrats' efforts to fight global warming to Soviet-style communism. "There is no such thing as a climate crisis and we are not in the midst of an energy transition," Wright said in a video posted last year on the LinkedIn social network. (LinkedIn).
Wright, who has no political experience, has written extensively about the need for greater fossil fuel production as a means of addressing poverty, Reuters notes. He stands out among oil and gas executives with his free-spirited lifestyle and self-described tech geek.
Wright made headlines in 2019 when he drank fracking fluid on camera to prove it was not dangerous.
Under Biden, oil production in the United States reached its highest level in the history of the country, Reuters recalls, adding that it is not certain to what extent Wright and the future Trump administration will be able to exceed this volume. Most drilling decisions are made by private companies operating on land not owned by the federal government, the agency notes.
The US Department of Energy is in charge of energy diplomacy and oversees the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Trump has said he wants to replenish. In addition, the department has grant and loan programs for the development of energy technologies.
The Secretary of Energy also oversees the US nuclear weapons complex, nuclear waste, and 17 national laboratories.
If the Senate confirms Wright as Energy Secretary, he will take over from Jennifer Granholm – supporter of electric cars, new energy sources such as geothermal energy and wind, solar and nuclear power generation.
Wright is also likely to be involved in transmission permitting and the expansion of nuclear power, which enjoys support among both Republicans and Democrats. Issuing licenses in the field of nuclear energy is, however, a complex procedure that involves spending a lot of money.
U.S. electricity demand rose for the first time in two decades. This is due to the many developments in areas such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies.
Donald Trump's transition team is considering whether a former Uber executive or one of three current and former Republican congressmen - one of whom is now a Fox News anchor - to lead the US Department of Transportation, sources told Reuters , familiar with the matter, reported BNR.
Emile Michael, a Trump donor and tech entrepreneur who knows Elon Musk and is a former Uber executive, has emerged as a leading contender, some of the sources said. Tech executives who supported Trump on the campaign trail have sided with the former Uber executive, two other of the sources said.
Other candidates include Sam Graves, a member of the Missouri House of Representatives and chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as outgoing Republican Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana and former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, now a Fox News anchor. other sources told Reuters.
In a statement, Sam Graves said he would be honored to be asked to serve as transport minister and would consider taking up the position. A spokesman for Garrett Graves would not comment on the prospect, but said he has been advising the Trump campaign on transportation and infrastructure issues.
Emile Michael and Sean Duffy provided commentary.
One of Reuters' sources said Elon Musk is a "fan" of Emil Michael, a tech entrepreneur and investor in Musk's rocket company SpaceX, according to Michael's own website.
Reuters could not determine whether Musk had advocated for Michael to take over that ministry
Musk, the world's richest man and one of Trump's biggest campaign backers, is expected to influence the pick for the transportation chief, among other Trump appointments, Reuters reported, citing a source.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump had been "very good" start and the story of the telephone conversation he had with the Republican leader after his victory in the presidential elections in the USA, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
Albanese indicated that he told Trump that the US had a trade surplus with Australia and that it was in Washington's interest to "trade fairly" with his ally.
During his first presidential term, Trump did not impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Australia, Reuters recalls.
Albanese said today that his phone conversation with the US Republican president-elect was a "very good start" bilateral relations. "We spoke for 10 minutes, which was one of the first phone calls he had," said the head of Australia's centre-left Labor government.
Trump and Albanese also discussed security ties, including the AUCUS pact, under which Australia will buy US nuclear submarines over the next decade and develop a new class of nuclear submarines jointly with the US and Britain.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said this month that Canberra was confident in its alliance with Washington, its biggest security partner.