Congratulations from Colorado poured in for Chris Wright, the CEO of a Denver-based energy services company tapped to become the energy secretary under the incoming Trump administration.   

“His practical, all-of-the-above approach to advancing clean, affordable, and reliable energy solutions will be instrumental in shaping the future of our nation’s energy policy,” Debbie Brown, president of the Colorado Business Roundtable, said in a statement.

“His deep expertise and passion for the role of energy in enhancing human life will undoubtedly bring valuable perspective to this critical position. As an entrepreneur, innovator, philanthropist, environmentalist, and business leader, Chris brings a wealth of experience and insight to tackling our country’s most pressing energy challenges,” Brown said.

On X, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert said she looks forward to working with Trump’s pick, adding she expects Wright to work to “make our country ENERGY DOMINANT again.”

“Thrilled to see a fellow Coloradan get this spot!” she added. 

Wright is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil field services firm based in Denver. He is expected to support Trump’s plan to maximize production of oil and gas and to seek ways to boost generation of electricity, demand for which is rising for the first time in decades.

Meanwhile, environmental groups decried Trump’s decision to pick Wright. 

“Picking someone like Chris Wright is a clear sign that Trump wants to turn the U.S. into a pariah petrostate,” said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program.

Wright has written extensively about energy issues. In an opinion piece for Colorado Politics, he argued that the consequences of driving up energy costs and driving down energy reliability have often been overlooked.

“These costs are borne disproportionately by lower income folks, who require modern energy to access clean-cooking fuels, easy access to drinking water, sanitation, education, etc.,” he said. 

The world, he added, is divided between the 15% of the world’s population who live in “energized, wealthy, modern lifestyles recognizable to Coloradans” and those the rest who suffer from “energy poverty.” 

“More than twice that many people — one third of the global population — cook their daily meals burning wood and dung and have either no electricity or only modest, intermittent access to electricity. I can think of no starker illustration of the immense inequality in today’s world. This cannot stand,” he said.

He added: “In fact, trying to tackle climate change without confronting the challenges of energy poverty not only has no prospect of succeeding, it is immoral, as well.”

The Department of Energy handles U.S. energy diplomacy, administers the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which Trump has said he wants to replenish, and runs grant and loan programs to advance energy technologies, such as the Loan Programs Office.

The secretary also oversees the aging U.S. nuclear weapons complex, nuclear energy waste disposal, and 17 national labs.

Reuters contributed to this article.