Trump picks oil-industry CEO Chris Wright as energy secretary nominee

 
WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, a staunch defender of fossil fuel use, would be his pick to lead the Department of Energy.

Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield services firm based in Denver. He is expected to support Trump's plan to maximize production of oil and gas and to seek ways to boost generation of electricity, demand for which is rising for the first time in decades.

He is also likely to share Trump's opposition to global cooperation on fighting climate change. Wright has called climate change activists alarmist and has likened efforts by Democrats to combat global warming to Soviet-style communism.

"There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition, either," Wright said in a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year.

Wright, who does not have any political experience, has written extensively on the need for more fossil fuel production to lift people out of poverty.