Energy Secretary Tells President Europe Wants to Do Business With US
WASHINGTON — Just back from a visit to Poland, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told President Donald Trump on Wednesday that European countries are lining up to buy liquefied natural gas and a host of energy-related technologies from the United States.
“They are thrilled that America is back in business, and that Europe can get off Russian energy and pursue its economic growth goals with secure, reliable and affordable energy from the United States,” Wright said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Wright had traveled to Poland to participate in the signing ceremony for a deal between the U.S. firms Westinghouse and Bechtel, operating as the Westinghouse/Bechtel Consortium, and the Polish nuclear developer Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe to develop the nation’s first AP-1000 nuclear power plant.
While there, he said, he spoke to “many other nations” … who want to “buy more American gas [and] get more American technology.”
“In short, they want to have a partnership with us,” he said.
Wright attributed the surge in interest, on just the 101st day of Trump’s second term, to the president’s belief that “unleashing energy” will make society “safer, more prosperous and more free,” and to consistent messaging across the administration.
“What we’ve all made clear is that we want our friends in Europe standing up again,” he said.
Wright said the “climate alarmism” that’s been prevalent in recent years, “doesn’t do anything to help the environment of our world, but it does impoverish people, it does reduce the security of your nation, and it makes you weaker.”
On the domestic front, the Energy secretary noted that the prices of regular and unleaded gas and diesel are all at their lowest levels “in years” and significantly lower than the all-time highs seen in 2022.
According to AAA, the national average price for regular gasoline stands at $3.18 per gallon, while the national average price for mid-grade unleaded gas is $3.67 per gallon, and diesel is at $3.55 per gallon.
According to GasBuddy, the affordability of gasoline is at its lowest non-COVID level since 2015.
“How did that happen in 100 days?” Wright asked rhetorically. “That’s messaging.”
“Your message,” he said to the president, “is that we’re pro-energy; we’re not against energy … and that sends a message that supply is easier to grow now and that supply will be coming … and that’s already led to tremendous savings for American consumers across the country.”
But Wright went on to say that as good as things are at the moment, “we need not only more affordable energy, but a lot more energy, period.”
“AI is the new, emerging critical industry, and it’s a very energy-intensive industry,” he said.
“It is not acceptable for the United States to not be the leader in AI. We must win the AI race, and it’s going to take a lot more energy for us to do that,” he said.
The good news, Wright said, is “we have that energy. We have those resources. We have those businesses. We have those capitalists.”
“We just need to stop standing in their way. We need to enable them, not subsidize them. We need to enable them to invest American money and create American jobs here.”
Wright went on to say that this is especially true when it comes to liquified natural gas, which he said will be the nation’s largest export within the next few years.
“Eighteen months ago, the Biden administration said we were going to stop issuing permits for new LNG export terminals. That’s just nuts,” the Energy secretary said.
“LNG is a great competitive advantage. It’s a huge balance of trade driver and it’s a huge industry just coiled and ready to go,” he added.
Wright also mentioned that he will be traveling to Griffin, Georgia, on Friday, to tour the Rinnai America Corporation’s manufacturing facility there.
Rinnai manufactures tankless natural gas water heaters, which he described as an “incredibly popular product” that “almost became illegal” due to new standards imposed during the Biden administration.
“The return of common sense is incredibly welcome across this country, and around the world,” he said.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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