US Senate Confirms Chris Wright as Energy Secretary

The newly appointed US Department of Energy secretary, Chris Wright, has been confirmed in a vote of 59-38, with seven Democrats and one independent voting against him. Wright, 60, is set to lead the department, which was created in 1977, making him the 17th secretary of energy. He has stated that his top priority will be to "unleash" domestic energy production, however, this appointment has been met with criticism due to Wright's stance on climate change. Despite acknowledging that human-caused climate change is real, Wright has previously described climate change activists as "alarmist" and likened efforts to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism.