Topics
tardy
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Gage Skidmore(opens in a new window)/Wikimedia Commons(opens in a new window)under aCC BY-SA 2.0(opens in a new window)license.
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Gage Skidmore(opens in a new window)/Wikimedia Commons(opens in a new window)under aCC BY-SA 2.0(opens in a new window)license.
Cloud Computing
commercialism
Crypto
enterprisingness
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
contraption
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
privateness
Robotics
Security
societal
quad
Startups
TikTok
transferral
Venture
More from TechCrunch
outcome
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
touch Us
President - elect Donald Trump enunciate on Saturday that he would be nominating Chris Wright , chief executive officer of oilfield Robert William Service company Liberty Energy , to the Wiley Post of vitality secretary .
Wright has been a big booster of oil and gun . From his rod at Liberty , Wright last yeardeniedthat there ’s a mood crisis or that it ’ll result in negative impacts , something that puts him at odds with the majority of atmospherical and clime scientists , or that the world is undergoing an energy transition . He claim that get-up-and-go prices are up as a outcome of insurance policy lucky to clean energy , despite the fact that oil toll have beenflat since 2010and natural gas pricesare down 50 % , too .
At the same time , Wright acknowledged that the clime is shift and the seas are rising . He ’s also no stranger to clime technical school .
autonomy enthrone in Fervo Energy , an advanced geothermal startup , in 2022 , take part in a $ 138 million round . Fervo build up on fracking applied science originally developed to exercise oil and gas well to ride down the cost of geothermic power .
Wright also sits on the board of Oklo , a nuclear power startup moderate by Sam Altman . Oklo blend public via SPAC in 2023 , and while it ’s had fuss sire its nuclear reactor designs license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission , its part price has doubled in the last month as investor have ride theenergy - for - data point centers wafture .
If confirmed by the Senate , Wright would oversee the Department of Energy ’s sweeping portfolio , from nuclear weapons examination to interior labs , emergency oil reserve to energy - efficiency programs .
He would also oversee theLoan Programs Office(LPO ) , which offer loan warranty for prominent energy - relate base projection . While most earlier stage startups would n’t be directly affected by any change in the LPO , debt offered through the program is something like a lighting at the end of the tunnel , providing helpful support as they go to raise from private lenders to deploy their technologies at commercial plate .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
The LPO presently holdsabout $ 35 billion in its portfolio , most of which falls under the clime tech umbrella , including usefulness - scale solar projects , wind farm , and carbon capture installations .
