Chris Wright Is on a Mission to Improve Human Lives

As President-elect Trump assembles his cabinet and senior staff, there are familiar names that Americans have come to know over the years. Names like Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. And then there is Chris Wright, perhaps the least recognizable name on the President’s team and the nominee for the Secretary of Energy.

Chris Wright is a serious contender, who doesn’t care that no one recognizes him

Chris is no show pony. Sitting in the Senate cafeteria with him recently, it struck me that in a city where people are paid copious amounts of money to know who the powerbrokers are, not a single person recognized the new nominee. And he’s okay with that.

For many years, Chris, an avid outdoorsman, has served on the board of the Property and Environment Research Center, our nonprofit conservation organization based out of Bozeman, Montana. We are dedicated to improving the condition of our public and private lands through incentives and market-based ideas. Part of that entails ensuring conservation works for both people and the environment. That’s Chris in a nutshell – he sees the condition of humanity and the environment are intertwined.

Having a diverse board of directors is important to me. And having a responsible leader in the oil and gas industry on our board alongside environmental leaders from nationally recognized conservation and sportsmen organizations has made for richer, more thoughtful dialogue about issues related to conservation.

Chris Wright is a thought leader in the energy industry known for his genuine, down-to-earth approachability coupled with an infectious enthusiasm to improve human lives.

Because he channels this passion by providing more affordable energy to ordinary Americans, many in the media have sought to label Chris as a climate change denier. That strikes me as not only lazy, but untrue.

Where does he stand on the climate?

In fact, he has written very publicly, in a company report last year: “Climate change is a real and global challenge that we should and can address,” also noting that human activity has “driven up atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide by 50 percent.” Hardly the words of a denier. Rather, Chris is a thoughtful problem solver and somebody who understands that access to affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy enables both greater economic growth and environmental progress. And he understands the trade-offs associated with unrealistic policy solutions being offered. He’s not afraid to call that out.

In his service with our environmental organization, he has been one of the more vocal supporters for conservation innovation and conservation markets – how to make conservation make economic sense so that it can be more sustainable and durable. Out here in Montana, in recognition of the role that landowners play in the conservation of elk, Chris has personally helped us establish a private fund to help compensate ranchers for disease costs associated with providing elk habitat on their land. And he has encouraged us to work with oil and gas producers who operate in the big game migrations corridors of the West to find ways to direct drilling away from key pathways, even if that means compensating the producers for necessary modifications.

Striking a balance

He would be the first to say that improving human lives means responsibly stewarding our land, water, and wildlife. Chris deeply believes a healthy environment is also part of the improved human condition.

When you visit with Chris in his office in Denver, it is hard not to notice a collection of mountaineering gear featured prominently. Chris is an accomplished mountaineer in his own right. But the gear doesn’t belong to him. It belongs to Montanan Alex Lowe, the best mountain climber of his generation, who was killed in an avalanche in the Tibetan Himalayas in 1999. For Chris, it is a daily reminder of the wonders of our planet and a climbing culture that seeks to connect with nature at the most extreme and intimate level. I know he will bring that same connection to energy policy in service to his country and the land that makes America so special.

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.