U.S. Energy Secretary calls European renewables policy a mistake, urges 'energy abundance'

Secretary Chris Wright used his Arc conference keynote to criticize what he called policies that prioritized intermittent renewables over broader energy production, saying those policies contributed to deindustrialization in some countries.

"They've made this, they say, in the name of climate change, but of course they haven't done anything meaningful whatsoever in the area of global greenhouse gas emissions," Wright said, arguing that policies in the United Kingdom and Germany reduced electricity production and raised prices.

Wright presented several quantitative claims during his remarks: he said roughly 75% of primary energy consumption in the United Kingdom comes from oil and natural gas and that globally about $10 trillion has been spent on wind, solar, batteries and transmission "and together they just got to 3.0% of global energy." He used those figures to question the net benefits of large renewables investments.

Wright framed his critique as part of a broader policy preference for expanding domestic energy production. He said that increasing U.S. energy output would lower prices, help reindustrialize the country and allow exports to allies to reduce their dependence on hostile suppliers. He called the group of policies he opposes "a climate cult," and urged a focus on technologies that compete on cost and reliability.

On climate politics, Wright said his side was "winning" in part by engaging officials across parties and arguing that technology — especially natural gas and nuclear — will be the most effective near‑term way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He cautioned against policies that raise household energy costs and said long‑term emissions reductions come from technologies that can compete in practice.