Climate Protesters Disrupt Confirmation Hearing for Trump’s Energy Secretary Pick

The confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary pick Chris Wright was interrupted at least five times within the first hour on Wednesday morning by raging, left-wing climate activists.

Wright, who is the CEO Liberty Energy, experienced interruptions during his introduction and questioning from senators from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

A U.S. Capitol Police officer near demonstrators outside a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty)

At one point, the interruption was significant enough that lawmakers demanded the committee recess until Capitol police could get protesters under control.

The exact comments from the protesters are muffled and unclear, although it appears they tried to link fossil fuels to climate change, with one protester yelling that the hearing was happening “as L.A. burns.”

“I’m 18 years old, and I want a future,” another protester screamed.

Each of the protesters were quickly whisked out of the room by security, with senators calling for mutual respect and the end of disruptions to the hearing.

Far-left Democrats and activists have recently blamed the deadly and destructive Los Angeles wildfires on climate change, rather than on the myriad of failures from local and state government to prepare for disasters, combined with the high speeds of the Santa Ana winds.

Wright addressed the outbreaks during his hearing, calling the conversation around climate change, fossil fuels, and energy a “complicated dialogue.”

“My whole thing is, we want more energy in the world because it is what makes people’s lives better. You have to understand that there isn’t dirty energy or clean energy — all energies are different, and they all have different trade-offs. Different people have different weights or valuations of trade-offs. Different geographies or locations have climates more favorable this energy versus that energy,” he said.

“So it’s complicated dialogue, which means it’s not easy to get people to share this broader perspective on it. I think we are seeing a little bit of that in passioned, well-meaning, wonderful people that have been sitting in the hearing room today,”  he added. 

The left-wing Sunrise Movement, a climate change group that pushes for the Green New Deal, were protesting outside of Wright’s confirmation hearing, according to the group’s posts to X.
“As fires level entire neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the last thing we need is to put an oil CEO in charge of energy policy,” the group wrote over a picture of activists holding yellow signs that read “Reject Wright.”

The activists said they were joined by Democrat Sens. Ed Markey (R-MA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), and Ro Khanna (D-CA) and claimed Wright’s confirmation is a “threat to our democracy and our future.”

Trump nominated Wright to run the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in November after the presidential election, calling him “one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.”

Trump explained that in addition to serving as the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Wright would also serve as a “Member of the newly formed Council of National Energy.”

“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,” Trump said. “Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy. He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas. 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.”

Trump continued to explain that the Council of National Energy would be made up of “all Departments and Agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation,” and transportation of “ALL forms of American Energy.”

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump added.

The press release from the Trump-Vance Transition team continued:

Self-described tech nerd turned entrepreneur, Chris Wright is the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Liberty Energy (NYSE: LBRT). Chris is  dedicated humanitarian with a passion for bringing the benefits of energy to every community in the world. This passion has inspired a career in energy, working not only in oil and gas but nuclear, solar, and geothermal. Chris embraces all energy sources if they are abundant, affordable, and reliable.

Breitbart News previously reported in 2021, that Wright released two videos showing how companies like The North Face, which criticized the oil and gas industry, were “deeply reliant” on this very industry “to make their products.”

While The North Face had come out “against” the oil and gas industry, Wright revealed that after viewing the company’s website, he “failed to find a single product that wasn’t made out of oil and gas.”

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.