The Senate has confirmed Colorado fracking services contractor Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy (DOE) in its management of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, national labs in energy development, and in implementing President Donald Trump’s energy policies.
The Senate endorsed Wright to serve as energy secretary on Feb. 3 in a 59-38 vote that drew objections from some Democrats over his support for fossil fuel development in taking the reins of DOE’s 14,000-employee workforce and its $52 billion annual budget.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in a mid-afternoon address before a largely empty chamber praised Wright as uniquely qualified to lead DOE in a time of sweeping technological breakthroughs and “all-of-the-above” energy diversification….