US Senate confirms Chris Wright as Trump's energy secretary

The US Senate has approved the nomination of Christopher Wright to lead the Energy Department on Monday.

President Donald Trump's pick was confirmed on Monday in a 59-38 vote.

During his confirmation hearing on January 15, Wright said he would work to implement his agenda for all sources of "affordable, reliable and secure" American energy.

He promised to "unleash American energy at home and abroad" to "restore our energy dominance," saying it is critical that the US "lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs" and to build things in America again and remove barriers to progress.

Loud voice against climate crisis

Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, has been one of the industry's loudest voices against efforts to fight the climate crisis.

He says more fossil fuel production can lift people out of poverty around the globe.

Wright will be in charge of an agency whose budget is around $50 billion, around half of which goes toward maintaining the country's nuclear weapons stockpile.

He will also be in charge of the department's 17 national labs that cover everything from research fusion energy to supercomputing.