Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in an exclusive interview that freezing offshore wind projects doesn't make America a risky place to invest — but he wants Congress to overhaul permitting to make other infrastructure easier to advance.
Why it matters: Wright is powerful in Trump 2.0 — a point man for the White House "dominance" agenda on fossil fuels, powering AI data centers, and shredding Biden-era climate playbooks.
- The former fracking exec offered a peek into his upcoming moves and current thinking in a chat with Axios that ranged widely from offshore wind to nuclear waste to climate science.
Here are five highlights:
1. Offshore wind pullbacks are a "one-off exception." Those Atlantic Coast projects already permitted or under construction that Trump's team is freezing? "There's very active dialogue among the administration, among parties outside the administration, about the right answer there."
- "But I think that'll be a one-off exception, or one-off complication, [on] what to do with offshore wind," Wright said.
- That said, while offshore wind is most directly in Trump's crosshairs, the reversal of renewables support has hit other projects, too.
- Overall, building infrastructure is "going to be massively easier than it has been in a long time," Wright said.
- His portrait of offshore wind as an isolated matter arrives amid business world concern that halting construction or reversing approvals sends a bad signal.
2. "Raise your hand in the air" on hosting nuclear waste. DOE is crafting a process furthering the Biden approach that seeks communities interested in accepting waste facilities — and receiving incentives, Wright said.
- "Our suspicion is, several communities around the country will say, 'Absolutely we want that — for the economic benefits, for the jobs, and for the activity,' and they'll get comfortable with the safety of it."
- How to handle waste long-term has bedeviled policymakers for decades, and it's only getting more important as the White House pushes new reactor projects.
3. "The biggest remaining thing? Permitting reform." It's the best way Congress could help the "energy dominance" agenda now that the GOP budget plan is law, he said.
- "We're building big infrastructure, but that's still much slower and clumsier than it should be," Wright said, adding he's been talking with Republicans and Democrats.
- Is the political window open this year? "Quite possibly."
- But bipartisan compromise faces long odds. Constellation Energy CEO Joe Dominguez told a Harvard audience on Friday that he was more hopeful a few months ago, citing the current "level of distrust and, you know, frankly, hatred — because I can't find a better word this morning — between the two sides."
4. "All in the public eye" on climate science. Wright wants fresh debate over the findings of DOE's contrarian report on global warming, which broke with mainstream researchers and drew heavy pushback.
- "I think you will see a gathering with the authors of the DOE climate report, and we'll invite all the authors for the reports that have come out in response."
- He envisions a forum "all in the public eye" to "see if we can close the gap on these differences ... the differences on the actual facts are not so great."
- The July report — which informs EPA plans to avoid regulating CO2 — didn't deny human-caused warming, but called risks and harms often overstated. But many scientists called it laden with errors and sins of omission.
5. Wright sees a brighter future for solar power than wind.
- "Solar will continue to grow," he said, responding to a question about whether solar and wind play any part in the "energy dominance" agenda.
- Wright cited solar's "energy density" edge over wind. "It's cheaper, faster to assemble," he said. "It has a role."
- Analysts expect continued wind growth — but significantly less over the long-term thanks to the GOP budget law that phases out tax credits.
What's next: Wright has multiple appearances around Climate Week NYC.
Chuck McCutcheon contributed reporting.
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