Wright Backs Trump’s Energy Overhaul in ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’: Maximum Output, Fewer Subsidies
Energy Secretary Chris Wright is fully behind President Donald Trump’s sweeping Big, Beautiful Bill. While the package spans taxes, regulation, and trade, it also marks what Wright called a “tremendous pivot in American energy policy”: more domestic production, fewer clean energy breaks, and a return to what he described as “common sense.”
“This is a huge win for the American people,” Wright said in a recent interview, calling the end of federal subsidies for wind and solar the bill’s most important step. “Three decades of support, and it’s only made electricity more expensive and less reliable.”
Although Senate Republicans recently dropped proposed tariffs on wind and solar imports, Wright made no direct comment on the reversal. He did, however, acknowledge where most components come from: “They’re the main maker of all these components today,” he said, referring to China.
The proposed tariffs would have impacted the majority of large-scale clean energy projects in the pipeline, raising costs across the board. Industry groups warned the tax could stall hundreds of developments and drive up power prices—concerns that ultimately led to its removal.
Wright instead focused on the need for reliable, 24/7 energy. “Wind and solar only work some of the time,” he said. “That’s just nuts. That’s what Europe did to push all their industries over to Asia.”
Wright summed up the administration’s approach as “maximum energy output at the lowest cost,” saying the days of shaping the grid around climate goals are over. “This is about affordable, reliable, secure energy for the American people,” he said.
That includes support for domestic coal, with Wright defending the use of emergency powers to keep a Michigan coal plant running—pointing out that the region experienced a blackout days later. On oil, he confirmed plans to begin slowly refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and hinted at canceling some future sales. “We’re not going to rebuild it overnight, but we’ll get there.”