Secretary of Energy Chris Wright will travel to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Friday to tour nuclear facilities and take part in a summit on the future of artificial intelligence development in the United States.
Wright’s visit to Oak Ridge, one of the original sites of the Manhattan Project, comes after he spent Monday at New Mexico’s Los Alamos National Lab touring its highly secure supercomputing and plutonium facilities. At Oak Ridge, Wright will tour the site’s supercomputer and Y-12, a facility that produces and stores enriched uranium.
GOP Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee, the chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee, will be one of several lawmakers hosting Wright.
“Oak Ridge and East Tennessee are at the forefront of developing groundbreaking new technologies such as AI, revitalizing our defense industrial base, and working to deliver on President Trump’s and Secretary Wright’s agenda to unleash American-made energy by expanding new nuclear power and technologies,” Fleischmann told The Daily Wire, adding that such advancements “are essential to our national security, economic prosperity, and powering our nation through the 21st Century.”
Wright’s visit to the Tennessee nuclear site comes as the administration prioritizes AI research and development to outperform U.S. adversaries like China. Wright will meet with OpenAI’s president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, on Friday and take part in a virtual summit described as a “1,000 Scientist AI Jam Session,” according to an Oak Ridge spokesman.
The summit is a “first-of-its-kind event being co-hosted by OpenAI and nine of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national labs to explore how AI can accelerate scientific discovery,” the spokesman told The Daily Wire. “Participants will have access to leading frontier AI models to test research applications, evaluate model responses, and help improve future AI systems. Secretary Wright and Mr. Brockman will give remarks and visit with participating Oak Ridge scientists.”
The participating national labs are Argonne, Berkeley, Brookhaven, Idaho, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Princeton Plasma Physics.
Wright’s visits to Oak Ridge and Los Alamos emphasize the administration’s view of the importance of nuclear power. In an order signed on his first day as Energy Secretary, Wright said that the Trump administration aims to spark an “American nuclear renaissance” and that the United States should lead the “commercialization of affordable and abundant nuclear energy.”
That energy will be needed to power the U.S. development of energy-intensive AI models. In a video of his tour of Los Alamos, the secretary described the AI race as the “next Manhattan Project,” a reference to the U.S. research program that developed the atomic bomb during the Second World War.
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More than 70 years ago, the Manhattan Project brought together the world’s greatest scientists and engineers here in Los Alamos for a patriotic effort that changed the world.
The next Manhattan Project has arrived and with <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> leadership, we will win this critical race. <a href="https://t.co/E40rNzKgJJ">pic.twitter.com/E40rNzKgJJ</a>
&mdash; Secretary Chris Wright (@SecretaryWright) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecretaryWright/status/1894545339899641936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Chris Wright

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Energy Sec To Visit Tennessee Nuclear Facility, Take Part In AI Summit

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Energy Sec To Visit TN Nuclear Facility, Take Part In AI Summit

Artificial Intelligence

Department of Energy

Energy

Politics

Tennessee

Trump Administration

Climate is “nowhere near the world’s biggest problem,” and has some benefits worth considering when evaluating its cost, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
Wright appeared on Fox Business on Wednesday and said that the narrative pushed by leftist environmentalists has significant flaws. Wright, who is a longtime critic of radical environmentalism, said that the backlash against fossil fuels inspired by overwrought claims about climate change is unwarranted.
“Everything in life has tradeoffs, but a warmer planet with CO2 is better for growing plants. The world has been getting greener for decades – 14% more greenery around the planet today than there was 40 years ago,” Wright said, before pointing out that “far more people die of the cold than die of the heat.”
“Everything has a tradeoff, but, yeah, there’s pluses to global warming as well as negatives. But the bottom line is it&#8217;s nowhere near the world’s biggest problem today, not even close,” he added.
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President Donald Trump nominated Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy with a background working in the oil and gas and nuclear industries. Wright is in charge of implementing a key plank of Trump’s agenda, a return to American energy dominance through oil and gas production and other energy sources that “can lower the cost of energy, expand job opportunities, and have more stuff made in America,” as Wright said in the interview.
Wright has spoken much more harshly about certain policies crafted on the assumption that climate change is an existential threat. On Monday, the energy secretary spoke via videolink to a conference in London and called the push to get to net zero carbon emissions within the next few decades a “sinister goal.”
&#8220;Net Zero 2050 is a sinister goal. It&#8217;s a terrible goal,&#8221; Wright <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-energy-secretary-attacks-sinister-net-zero-goals-singling-out-britain-2025-02-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The aggressive pursuit of it – and you&#8217;re sitting in a country that has aggressively pursued this goal – has not delivered any benefits, but it&#8217;s delivered tremendous costs.”

Trump Energy Chief: Climate Change ‘Nowhere Near The World’s Biggest Problem’

Climate Change

U.S.

President Donald Trump expressed confidence on Tuesday when questioned about the quick purge and reinstatement of largely probationary employees at the agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
Employees were laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week before being reinstated over the weekend. Most of those involved were probationary employees, which typically means they were hired or promoted within the last year.
The employees let go from the NNSA were mostly involved in clerical or administrative roles, according to the Department of Energy. Many of those laid off worked on climate and energy efficiency-related projects that do not align with Trump’s agenda for American energy dominance. None of the employees worked directly on weapons-related programs, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/02/17/trump-musk-nuclear-weapons-workers-nnsa/78968238007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a>.
When asked if he was worried about what turbulence over the layoffs would do to the agency, the president said he was “not at all” concerned and that he was delivering on his agenda to voters.
“I think we have to just do what we have to do,” Trump said. “It&#8217;s amazing what&#8217;s been found right now. It&#8217;s amazing. Some, if we feel that, in some cases, they’ll fire people and then they’ll put some people back, not all of them, because a lot of people were let go.”
“Don’t forget, I got elected on the basis of making our government stronger and smaller because we have millions of people that, obviously, they’re paying millions of people that shouldn’t be paid,” he added.
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Reporter: There was a big wave of probationary federal workers who were fired over the weekend. Some of these workers focused on nuclear weapons security were immediately rehired. Do you have any concerns? 
Trump: No, not at all. I think we have to just do what we have to do.… <a href="https://t.co/enXcCxKVlZ">pic.twitter.com/enXcCxKVlZ</a>
&mdash; Acyn (@Acyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1891967707534553233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The agency, which is semi-autonomous under the Department of Energy, sent out termination emails late last week before <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-administration-wants-un-fire-nuclear-safety-workers-cant-figure-rcna192345?taid=67b0cdf1e6d2760001470968&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retracting</a> some over the weekend. Managers had difficulty contacting some of the reinstated employees after cutting off their work email accounts.
The number of employees let go from the agency is unclear. The Department of Energy said the layoffs affected less than 50 people. According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-energy-department-says-less-than-50-purged-nuclear-security-office-2025-02-16/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, 325 employees received termination emails.
The confusion over the agency’s employees took place amid widespread cuts to federal agencies being led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, an Elon Musk-led group within the White House that is overseeing an audit of federal employment and spending priorities.

Donald Trump

Trump ‘Not At All’ Worried About DOGE Cuts After Reinstatement Of Nuclear Safety Workers

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Elon Musk

Executive

Washington D.C.

A Biden administration official who approved a $1.6 billion loan to a company he invested in recently said he does not regret his decision.
Jigar Shah, former President Joe Biden’s head of the Department of Energy&#8217;s Loan Programs Office, recently <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/02/11/2025/jigar-shah-has-some-concerns-about-energy-investment-under-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Semafor that he wouldn’t change “a single thing” about his actions in office. A reporter for the outlet asked Shah if he would have done anything differently at the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the Department of Education, and Shah said no.
“Not a single thing,” Shah said. “To take an office that was shut down by the Obama administration after Solyndra and give it hope again, that just takes the amount of time that it takes.”
Just days before President Donald Trump retook office, Shah finalized a $1.6 billion federal loan to a green energy company in which he was invested, The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/bidens-lame-duck-loan-czar-finalizes-1-6-billion-award-to-green-power-company-he-invested-in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Shah made the $100 million investment in Plug Power, a hydrogen fuel developer, through his green financial firm Generate Capital – just before he joined the Biden administration in 2021. Just one month after Shah joined the administration, Plug Power applied for a federal loan from his office.
Republicans had raised concerns about Shah’s ties to the company, but those concerns went nowhere and Shah joined the Biden administration. Shah’s finalization of a loan to Plug Power came just weeks after the Department of Energy’s own inspector general <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-harris-administration/significant-risk-of-fraud-federal-watchdog-calls-for-emergency-halt-to-bidens-400-billion-energy-loan-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> him to halt all loans from his office due to a “significant risk of fraud&#8221; and conflict-of-interest concerns within the program. Shah ignored the warning and provided billions to green energy companies in the final weeks of the Biden administration, the Free Beacon reported.
During the four years of the Biden administration, the LPO pumped out $400 billion to green energy companies, according to the Free Beacon.
Shah was directly involved in the Plug Power loan process, the Free Beacon found during a public records request, even holding a meeting with the company’s CEO in May 2021. Three days after that meeting, staff in Shah’s office held another meeting focused on Plug Power.
In 2023, Plug Power <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/plug-power-stock-tanks-40-as-company-warns-it-could-run-out-of-money-in-a-year-155101635.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> investors it may run out of money within a year, and Morgan Stanley <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/plug-power-stock-price-downgrade-b7f666f2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downgraded</a> the company’s stock due to “significant risk around PLUG&#8217;s business model.&#8221;
This didn’t stop Shah from handing the company another $1.6 billion in the closing days of the Biden administration.

Jigar Shah

Biden Energy Official Who Gave $1.6 Billion To Company He Invested In Says He Has No Regrets

Biden Administration

The Biden administration has finalized a rule that would ban most natural gas hot water heaters, restrictions that critics say are sure to raise the cost of similar appliances.
The Department of Energy (DOE) published the finalized rule in the Federal Register the day after Christmas, but did not send out a press release or other public announcement as in the case of past regulations, according to <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-harris-administration/biden-bans-scores-of-natural-gas-water-heaters-driving-up-prices-with-lame-duck-regulations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Free Beacon</a>.
The rule is scheduled to go into effect in March 2025. It is expected to phase out the production of roughly 40% of new tankless water heaters by 2025, leaving consumers in the United States with fewer options and higher prices. The finalized rule is the latest move the Biden administration has made to restrict household appliances and vehicles in an effort to cut down on emissions.
“The object of these rules is to reduce consumption of natural gas, a goal of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, signed into law when America had to import oil and natural gas. Now, however, America is one of the world’s largest energy producers,” The Heritage Foundation’s Diana Furchtgott-Roth wrote in <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/12/30/obama-took-away-light-bulbs-biden-wants-appliances/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Signal</a>. “The law is outdated and should be repealed.”
Biden has used his executive branch powers to regulate your household appliances because Congress, which answers to the people, refused to pass such restrictive laws,” wrote Furchtgott-Roth, the director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment at the conservative think tank.
Matthew Agen, the American Gas Association’s chief counsel for energy, blasted the new rule in a December 18 <a href="https://www.aga.org/news/news-releases/aga-criticizes-doe-natural-gas-instantaneous-water-heater-rulemaking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, accusing the Biden administration of violating the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) with the sweeping ban.
“DOE’s decision to ban an entire segment of instantaneous water heaters is deeply concerning and irresponsible,” Agen said. “The final rule is a violation of the [EPCA], which prohibits DOE from promulgating a standard that renders a product with a distinct performance characteristic unavailable.”
Agen also said that the Biden administration’s claims about cost savings for consumers are flawed, and the rule will result in much higher costs, especially to low-income households.
“DOE’s estimate of increased cost to customers is not reflective of real-world situations, with direct pricing information from a manufacturer suggesting that the difference in average product price alone is approximately $450 – 200% greater than the $231 difference claimed by DOE to justify the rule. Moreover, the customers most likely to opt for more affordable non-condensing water heaters tend to be low-income and senior households,” Agen said.

Biden Admin Issues Sweeping Ban On Natural Gas Water Heaters

Joe Biden

President-elect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donald Trump</a> announced on Saturday evening that he has tapped Chris Wright to lead the U.S. Department of Energy.
&#8220;I am thrilled to announce that Chris Wright will be joining my Administration as both United States Secretary of Energy, and Member of the newly formed Council of National Energy,&#8221; Trump said in a statement.
Trump highlighted Wright&#8217;s career as a leading technologist and entrepreneur in the industry before being nominated to the position.
&#8220;He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.&#8221;
Wright said that he was &#8220;honored and grateful&#8221; for the opportunity to serve in the new administration.
&#8220;My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood that makes everything in life possible,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Energy matters. I am looking forward to getting to work.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
The statement said that Wright has known and worked with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum — whom Trump tapped to be the Secretary of the Interior and Chairman of the National Energy Council — for years.
&#8220;This team will drive U.S. Energy Dominance, which will drive down Inflation, win the A.I. arms race with China (and others), and expand American Diplomatic Power to end Wars all across the World,&#8221; Trump said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I am honored and grateful for the opportunity from <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> to serve our country as U.S. Secretary of Energy. My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood… <a href="https://t.co/IfjMQw9xKi">pic.twitter.com/IfjMQw9xKi</a>
— Chris Wright (@ChrisAWright_) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisAWright_/status/1857924212868161829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2024</a></blockquote>

President-Elect Donald Trump Speaks At The America First Policy Institute Gala At Mar-A-Lago

Trump Taps ‘Pioneer’ Chris Wright To Lead Energy Department

Sam <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-brinton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brinton</a>, the disgraced Biden administration official who was arrested for stealing women’s luggage at multiple U.S. airports, snagged a cushy plea deal last week.
The former Department of Energy employee <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/crossdressing-luggage-snatcher-and-ex-biden-official-sam-brinton-gets-sweetheart-plea-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">will serve</a> no jail time after he pled guilty to misdemeanor petty larceny, downgraded from his felony grand larceny charges that carried a sentence of up to 20 years, the Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/crossdressing-luggage-snatcher-and-ex-biden-official-sam-brinton-gets-sweetheart-plea-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Back in 2022, Brinton, 37, who uses they/them pronouns, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disgraced-non-binary-biden-official-helped-create-school-policy-to-hide-childrens-gender-changes-from-parents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fired</a> as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy and charged with stealing a woman’s Vera Bradley suitcase from the Minneapolis airport and another woman’s suitcase from the Las Vegas airport. The suitcases and their contents had a combined value of more than $9,000, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-biden-official-sam-brintons-mug-shot-released-bail-set-15000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">police</a> and court <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-non-binary-nuclear-official-charged-stealing-womans-luggage-airport" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documents</a>.
Then, in May of last year, Brinton was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/non-binary-ex-biden-official-sam-brinton-arrested-again-fugitive-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> a third time for stealing a Tanzanian fashion designer&#8217;s luggage with her custom designs, which he proceeded to wear himself at high-profile public events. That theft occurred at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
In all three cases, Brinton has escaped jail time.
The plea deal in the designer clothes case was quietly announced last week by prosecutors in Arlington General District Court.
Brinton is now required to undergo mental health treatment, write a letter of apology, and perform 50 hours of community service helping the elderly, per the terms of his plea deal.
The Tanzanian designer, Asya Khamsin, went public with her allegations against Brinton last year after seeing photographs in news articles of Brinton wearing her custom designer clothes.
“I saw the images. Those were my custom designs, which were lost in that bag in 2018,” she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-find-female-designers-stolen-clothes-at-home-of-sam-brinton-non-binary-former-biden-official-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “He wore my clothes, which was stolen.”
She said she had flown to Washington, D.C., for an event where her clothing was set to be on display, but when her designs went missing, she was not able to show them.
At one point, the fashion magazine Vanity Fair <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/vanity-fair-published-fashion-feature-on-sam-brinton-showcased-allegedly-stolen-dress?utm_campaign=news&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_content=na_feed_dailywire&amp;cid=news&amp;mid=&amp;xid=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> an article praising Brinton&#8217;s style, including some of Khamsin&#8217;s designs he was wearing.
Khamsin also sued Brinton and reached a settlement this week. In it, Brinton agreed to pay her an unknown amount of money and wrote her an apology letter.
&#8220;Mr. Brinton has apologized to Asya Khamsin, and Asya Khamsin has forgiven Mr. Brinton,&#8221; Khamsin&#8217;s attorney said. &#8220;Asya Khamsin has decided not to publish Mr. Brinton’s letter of apology, as she considers the letter to be quite personal, sensitive, sincere, and heartfelt.&#8221;
A follow-up hearing scheduled for June of next year will examine Brinton&#8217;s progress.
Brinton initially attracted attention for being one of the federal government’s first “non-binary” officials.
Before his stint in the Biden administration, Brinton <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sam-brinton-helped-craft-model-school-policy-keeping-parents-dark-kids-gender-change?intcmp=tw_fnc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked</a> for The Trevor Project, where he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disgraced-non-binary-biden-official-helped-create-school-policy-to-hide-childrens-gender-changes-from-parents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helped</a> create a model school district <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Model_School_Policy_Booklet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policy</a> that says schools should hide suicidal students’ sexual orientation and gender identity from their parents unless the student wants their parents to know. Several states have adopted this policy.

The Trevor Project’s TrevorLIVE LA 2018 – Show & After Party

Sam Brinton, Dress-Wearing Ex-Biden Official Who Stole Women’s Luggage, Gets Cushy Plea Deal

Sam Brinton, Dress-Wearing Ex-Biden Official Who Stole Women's Luggage Gets Cushy Plea Deal

Biden

Crime

Gender

nonbinary

Sam Brinton

A federal judge blocked the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a>’s freeze on new liquid natural gas export permits on Monday after 16 Republican attorneys general sued the administration over the policy.
U.S. District Judge James Cain <a href="https://ago.wv.gov/Documents/LNG%20ruling.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that the Biden administration had not followed precedent or considered national security impacts when it announced a ban on new natural gas permits earlier this year, issuing an injunction against the policy. Additionally, he ruled that the freeze would harm the states that sued after the policy was announced in January. 
The freeze meant that the Department of Energy would not issue any new permits while it updated the authorization process. According to the Biden administration, the freeze applied to countries that the United States did not have free trade agreements with, and “indefinitely” paused natural gas exports to those countries. 
“It appears that the DOE has failed to provide a more detailed justification for its halt of the approval process to conduct an update, especially considering that past precedent, which the applicants relied upon, allowed the approval of the applications to proceed when updates were made,” Cain wrote in his decision. 
“Also, it appears to this Court that Defendants did not realistically consider the cost/benefit analysis with regard to Plaintiff States’ concerns about the impact on national security, state revenues, employment opportunities, funding for schools and charities, and pollution allegedly caused by increased reliance on foreign energy sources,” the judge added. 
Cain&#8217;s injunction is in place as litigation against the freeze continues in federal court.
The states that sued were Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Cain said that the states, specifically Texas, West Virginia, and Louisiana, had shown that they would be harmed by the freeze, which would result in “loss of revenues, market share, and deprivation of a procedural right.”
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“This is a big win for the country’s energy industry and the millions of jobs it supports against the attacks from the Biden administration to further its radical climate change agenda at the expense of our economy,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said. “This administration’s Energy Department has no such authority to justify this ban— authority on matters like this lies with Congress and Congress alone.”
The White House disagreed with the judge’s ruling, and the Energy Department said it would assess it.
“We are disappointed in today’s ruling. We remain committed to informing our decisions with the best available economic and environmental analysis, underpinned by sound science,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4750745-federal-court-lifts-biden-pause-gas-exports/mlite/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “The United States remains the world’s largest exporter of LNG, and is currently on track to more than double existing capacity by the end of this decade.”

Oil And Gas Exploration In The Marcellus Shale

‘A Big Win’: Judge Blocks Biden Admin’s Freeze On New Natural Gas Exports

Courts

Natural gas

West Virginia

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) slammed Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday for not reporting individual stocks she owned and accused her of misleading Congress when she previously claimed she did not own any.
The heated exchange, which lasted several minutes, happened during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.
&#8220;When you were here last, I talked with you about the fact that more than 130 officials in the Energy Department reported more than 2,700 trades of shares, bonds, and options in companies that ethics officers said was directly related to the agency&#8217;s work,&#8221; Hawley began. &#8220;This is institutionalized corruption. And I asked you point blank, &#8216;Do you own any individual stock?&#8217; And you told me, &#8216;No.'&#8221;
&#8220;Turns out that was false,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;You did own multiple individual stocks and you neglected to report it to this committee for months afterwards. Why did you mislead this committee?&#8221;
&#8220;Oh, my goodness,&#8221; Granholm responded, claiming: &#8220;I believed that I had sold all individual stocks. And I was incorrect.&#8221;
After several moments of intense back-and-forth, Hawley pushed back on her claim that she immediately notified the committee when she learned that she owned individual stock.
&#8220;Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, that&#8217;s not true, either,&#8221; Hawley said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s just look at the timeline. Let&#8217;s not&#8211;, I just remind you, you&#8217;re under oath. Madam Secretary, you testified you didn&#8217;t own any individual stocks. You didn&#8217;t sell the stocks for a whole other month. And after you sold the stocks, you waited another month before you informed this committee. Why did you mislead us? And what were you hiding? Why did you wait so long? Why did you hide this?&#8221;
Granholm insisted that she did not &#8220;hide&#8221; her false claim but later added that she didn&#8217;t know what five of the six individual stocks that she was forced to sell were.
&#8220;You&#8217;re here before this committee a year later, after actively misleading us after denying and delaying and delaying. And now you won&#8217;t tell us. Was one of them Proterra?&#8221; Hawley pressed. &#8220;You sat on the board of directors at Proterra. You made millions in end reports and stock options at Proterra then you, you promoted Proterra stock and Proterra products as energy secretary. Was that one of the stocks that you sold?&#8221;
&#8220;This is so, I mean, really?&#8221; Granholm responded.
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&#8220;Yes, really,&#8221; Hawley fired back. &#8220;You are presiding over institutionalized corruption in your Energy Department, you have violated the Stock Act nine separate times. You have been referred by the Inspector General for violations of the Hatch Act. It is institutionalized corruption that you are now the face of and here&#8217;s what I&#8217;m trying to figure out. I just want to know who really runs the Energy Department. Is it you? Or is it the mega-corporations whose stock that you own that you&#8217;re making profits in?&#8221;
Hawley concluded a few minutes later by saying she needed to resign from her department.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MUST WATCH: Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HawleyMO</a> blasts a flustered Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over failing to disclose owning conflicting stocks. <a href="https://t.co/Md0JVc8LNJ">pic.twitter.com/Md0JVc8LNJ</a>
&mdash; Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMachineRR/status/1780274598875144328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Josh Hawley

Josh Hawley Blasts Energy Secretary Granholm For Creating ‘Institutionalized Corruption’ At DOE

Congress

Jennifer Granholm

On Wednesday, the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> announced that it was stepping back from a plan to refill the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strategic Petroleum Reserve</a> (SPR) following a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-putin-biden-climate-and-environment-government-politics-7fa1a7e4c1d2196856566f9401d8369b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant drawdown</a> in recent years.
Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-03/us-cancels-latest-oil-reserve-refill-plan-amid-high-prices" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> the decision marks a reversal from last month&#8217;s announcement to solicit <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/articles/us-department-energy-announces-two-solicitations-purchase-oil-strategic-petroleum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">up to 3 million barrels</a> to a Louisiana site in August and September. It also coincides with crude oil prices reaching their highest level in months as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/02/oil-prices-climb-to-five-month-high-on-escalating-middle-east-tensions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">geopolitical tensions</a> increase.
The Energy Department claimed to be &#8220;keeping the taxpayer&#8217;s interest at the forefront.&#8221; The agency said, &#8220;We will not award the current solicitations for the Bayou Choctaw SPR site and will solicit available capacity as market conditions allow,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We will continue to monitor market dynamics.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/strategic%20petroleum%20reserve%20factsheet.2_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Started in 1975,</a> the SPR is &#8220;the world&#8217;s largest supply of emergency crude oil … established primarily to reduce the impact of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products and to carry out obligations of the United States under the international energy program,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Energy Department</a>.
The SPR plummeted to its <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/02/biden-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-levels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lowest level in decades</a> in 2022 after the Biden administration announced a 180-million-barrel <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/10/18/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-announce-new-actions-to-strengthen-u-s-energy-security-encourage-production-and-bring-down-costs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drawdown</a> in an attempt to stabilize global oil markets and <a href="https://rollcall.com/2022/10/19/biden-to-announce-more-oil-reserve-sales-to-reduce-gas-prices/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">combat rising gasoline prices</a>.
Recent data showed the SPR at <a href="https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/pdf/table1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">363.6 million barrels</a> — far below the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/spr-quick-facts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">authorized storage capacity</a> of 714 million barrels — after it topped <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-business-opec-climate-and-environment-cd15107ef2e0bb49db9165eb190b450c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">600 million barrels</a> as recently as late 2021.
U.S. oil futures rose to $85 per barrel for the first time since October on Tuesday, which MarketWatch <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-oil-benchmark-tops-85-a-barrel-as-middle-east-tensions-escalate-8d5dd06a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attributed</a> to concerns about a direct conflict between Israel and Iran following a strike in Syria that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-escalation-alleged-israeli-airstrike-kills-top-iranian-general-in-syria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> a top Iranian commander. Also mentioned in the report were Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil facilities.
The Biden administration has made <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-repurchase-oil-strategic-petroleum-reserve" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declarations</a> since late 2022 pledging to work toward repurchasing crude oil for the SPR.
Just last week, the Energy Department said it <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/us-to-buy-oil-for-spr-oil-at-above-$79-target-price-in-latest-round" target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchased</a> 2.8 million barrels for a site in Texas despite the cost being $81 dollars a barrel, $2 over the U.S. target price, making for a total of 32.3 million barrels of oil brought for the SPR at an <a href="https://www.energy.gov/ceser/articles/biden-harris-administration-continues-secure-good-deal-taxpayers-replenishment-6#:~:text=To%20date%2C%20DOE%20has%20purchased,a%20good%20deal%20for%20taxpayers." target="_blank" rel="noopener">average price of $76.98</a>.
The news on Wednesday that the agency was backing away from the solicitation for 3 million barrels meant for the Louisiana site in Bayou Choctaw drew fresh criticism.
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“It’s pure insanity to watch the Biden Administration cut American oil production and then claim they can’t refill our critical reserve because of the price,” Daniel Turner, founder and executive director for Power The Future, said in a statement, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/biden-admin-cancels-plan-to-refill-emergency-oil-reserve-amid-high-prices">according</a> to Fox Business.
&#8220;[President] Joe Biden drained the SPR for political reasons, cut our domestic production for his climate agenda, and now he’s leaving our critical reserve more vulnerable because he’s incompetent,&#8221; Turner added. &#8220;As a result, Americans are paying more at the pump, more at the grocery store and our SPR is less full during a time of rising turmoil in the Middle East.&#8221;

Strategic Petroleum Reserves Release Ordered By President Biden To Curb Rises Gas Prices

Biden Admin Nixes Plan To Help Refill Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Strategic Petroleum Reserve

A solar energy company recently awarded $3 billion by the Biden administration has been accused of scamming elderly people, and Republican leaders in the House and Senate are now asking the Energy Department to provide more details about the deal.
Sunnova Energy Corporation, a residential and commercial solar energy company based in Houston, benefited from “the single largest commitment ever made by the Federal Government to solar power” when the Biden administration <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/doe-announces-3-billion-partial-loan-guarantee-sunnovas-project-hestia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a loan guarantee with the energy company on September 28. Recent “<a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnBarrasso/status/1733234679761756625" target="_blank" rel="noopener">credible reports</a> of predatory sales strategies,” however, alarmed Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
“We are alarmed about recent, credible reports that Sunnova has racked up numerous consumer complaints, including those alleging troubling sales practices, such as Sunnova pressing elderly homeowners in poor health to sign long-term contracts costing tens of thousands of dollars,” Barrasso and McMorris Rodgers wrote in a <a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/12_07_2023_Joint_Letter_to_DOE_LPO_c9ac40dc52.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> sent earlier this week to Jigar Shah, the director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy. 
“These reports cite interviews with individuals who struggled to deal with large contracts that their elderly parents signed shortly before passing away as well as state consumer complaints alleging maintenance delays and predatory sales strategies,” the letter stated. 
One woman said that a door-to-door salesman for Sunnova sold her father, who she said was in hospice care, a $60,000 solar system for his mobile home shortly before his death, The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/energy/biden-admin-gave-3-billion-loan-to-solar-company-accused-of-scamming-elderly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last month. 
&#8220;My dad told [the salesman] at that time he was on hospice and dying. And basically, he wasn&#8217;t in his right mind,&#8221; said Mary Loller, adding that Sunnova placed a lien on her father’s property preventing his family from selling it after his death.
Another person, Texas resident Terry Blythe, told the Free Beacon that her 86-year-old father who had been diagnosed with dementia was convinced by a Sunnova salesman to buy a 25-year solar panel lease in 2020. The contract was worth $34,000, which Blythe said she was left to deal with after her father died. 
&#8220;It was truly ripping off old people It was the biggest ripoff I&#8217;ve ever seen,” she said. 
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As far back as 2019, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/26/sunnova-texas-solar-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria/2946484002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a report on Sunnova, which confirmed some of its customers’ complaints, including misleading them about the costs of solar panel financing and contracts. 
“Residents in other parts of the country have also reported problems with Sunnova systems, including deceptive sales practices,” the Republican lawmakers’ letter continues. “These allegations are particularly troubling, as LPO has stated this program will focus on disadvantaged communities.” 
President Joe Biden has been pushing the Democrats’ leftist green energy agenda seeking to address the “climate crisis” and has emphasized expanding solar energy. Earlier this year, the Biden administration launched a $7 billion “Solar for All” grant competition proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and created by the president’s Inflation Reduction Act. 
McMorris Rodgers and Barrasso are requesting the Energy Department to provide documents and any information regarding its treatment of the concerns raised by the letter. The Energy Department has until December 21 to provide the lawmakers with the information they&#8217;re seeking.

Joe Biden/Jennifer Granholm

Solar Energy Company Accused Of Scamming Elderly People Was Awarded $3 Billion By Biden Admin. GOP Leaders Are Now Seeking Answers.

Solar Power

A group of Republican senators are pressing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Energy</a> (DOE) to explain what they said was the abrupt reassignment of a top intelligence official who served in the role for 11 years.
Sen. James Risch (R-ID) led a <a href="https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/3/8/38999307-b0ca-4ec4-80ab-2acc2ddcdc34/DD4B19E088F0E67C203454734E3C71AD.risch-gop-letter-to-doe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> issued this week to Energy Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jennifer-granholm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Granholm</a> seeking answers to &#8220;urgent&#8221; questions raised by the personnel decision.
&#8220;On Tuesday, October 17, we received word that Steven Black, the long-serving Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (DOE-IN) at the Department of Energy, was suddenly and without explanation reassigned,&#8221; the letter said.
&#8220;We are told he will be taking on a new role as &#8216;Senior Advisor&#8217; in the Department. We are also aware that a study conducted by an outside contractor, which the Department has had in its possession since April, outlines disturbing findings as to the state of counterintelligence across the Department, to include the national laboratories,&#8221; the letter added.
While emphasizing the importance of the DOE&#8217;s &#8220;national security work,&#8221; citing research efforts at <a href="https://www.energy.gov/national-laboratories" target="_blank" rel="noopener">national laboratories</a>, the senators wrote that they became &#8220;deeply&#8221; concerned by the contractor study they said Congress had requested.
&#8220;If Director Black presided over DOE-IN over a period of time in which there were serious shortcomings with regard to counterintelligence, he should not be reassigned to any office within the Department that has a national security mission,&#8221; the senators wrote.
The senators asked that Granholm refrain from assigning Black to any department office until they receive answers on why Black was reassigned, whether the contractor study factored into that decision, which part of the DOE is Black expected to serve as senior adviser, when the DOE became aware of the contester study transmitted to DOE-IN on April 24, and whether Granholm agrees with its findings.
No deadline was included in the letter. The Daily Wire reached out to the DOE seeking comment.
The other senators who signed the letter included Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY), Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL), and seven others.
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<a href="https://www.energy.gov/intelligence/office-intelligence-and-counterintelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to the DOE website,</a> the agency&#8217;s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence is a member of the U.S. intelligence community and is &#8220;responsible for all intelligence and counterintelligence activities throughout the DOE complex, including nearly thirty intelligence and counterintelligence offices nationwide.&#8221;
The page also says the office &#8220;protects vital national security information and technologies, representing intellectual property of incalculable value. Our distinctive contribution to national security is the ability to leverage the Energy Department’s unmatched scientific and technological expertise in support of policymakers as well as national security missions in defense, homeland security, cyber security, intelligence, and energy security.&#8221;

GOP Senators Demand Energy Dept Explain ‘Suddenly’ Reassigned Intel Director

GOP Senators Demand Energy Department Explain 'Suddenly' Reassigned Intel Director

James Risch

Marco Rubio

National Security

U.S. Senate

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