Wright’s critics see his views on global warming as a dangerous and self-serving misinterpretation of climate science. In their view, the fundamental role of fossil fuels in modern life is precisely the problem. Without a rapid shift to other energy sources, humanity risks undoing the types of progress Wright and his allies love to celebrate.

Don’t call it ‘climate denial,’ Secretary of Energy Chris Wright claims he’s preaching ‘climate realism’

As a Denver-based fracking executive, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright honed a message on global warming: yes, it’s real, but it’s a manageable side effect of modern life.

More and cheaper fossil fuel is the wrong direction to take. The damage caused by the use of fossil fuels and products made from them is conveniently externalized. Gas and oil are cheap because the user does not pay for the life-cycle cost, only for the initial production and distribution costs. And, in many hidden ways, the production cost is subsidized. Though he doesn’t mean it this way, true “climate realism” would assess the full life cycle cost of the fuel and include that as a penalty tax. But how do you price loss of coastline, extinction of species, wildfires, floods, and extreme weather? What’s the value of the casualties, what could compensate the child with asthma?

We aren’t even sure that humanity will survive what’s coming.