By Julia Payne and Timothy Gardner
BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright downplayed the risks of climate change as he promoted Washington’s return to a “commonsense energy policy” on Thursday, while the Trump administration worked to boost oil and gas sales to Europe and other allies.
Wright spoke to reporters after meeting the European Union’s energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen in Brussels. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has also been in Europe this week aiming to seal energy supply deals that Washington hopes will strengthen its influence in the region while weakening Russia’s.
Wright said the benefits of stable energy from fossil fuels offset any risks, adding that the rise of natural gas production was the “biggest driver of decarbonisation” in the United States, which is rolling back on renewables projects such as offshore windfarms.
His comments reflect the degree to which the Trump administration is at odds with the United Nations, global scientists and the EU, which has put emissions targets at the heart of policy-making.
Natural gas burns cleaner than coal but still produces significant carbon emissions from smokestacks, and methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from leaks.
Wright questioned the urgency of climate change and its impact on human life.
“We kind of struggle to find what is it from climate change that’s causing greater risks to humans,” he said. “A warmer, wetter world is more conducive to growing crops.”
Despite global evidence to the contrary, Wright said there was no upward or downward trend in the frequency of extreme weather events, and that protections offered by petrochemicals, such as clothing and heating, meant deaths from such events had fallen over time.
More than 100 people including children at a summer camp died during catastrophic flooding in Texas after extreme rain in July. Climate scientists have warned the risk of extreme rain is increasing due to warming global temperatures.
Reinsurance company Swiss Re said in an April report that total losses from natural catastrophes – not all climate related – and including those not covered by insurance, came in at $318 billion in 2024 up from $292 billion in 2023 and significantly above longer-term averages. The report said the effects of climate change played a role in “compounding losses”.
“The impact of hydrocarbons, I would say, has been massively larger at making safer, longer, healthier lives. It’s causing some warming, but is the net impact of hydrocarbon consumption to endanger humans?” Wright added.
David Doniger, a senior attorney at New York-based environmental group the Natural Resources Defence Council, said the secretary should lead the way to an abundance of cleaner energy that can meet economic objectives without destroying the climate.
“The secretary of energy should not be a salesman for one kind of energy, either to Americans or to the rest of the world,” Doniger added.
(Reporting by Julia Payne and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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