The American 'goal is to significantly increase oil production.'
The 'climate cult' has weakened the European economy, said U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright (61) in an interview with AFP.
"The experiment that has been conducted over the last 17 years, rightly deserving the name 'climate cult', has only led to rising energy prices. Europe as a whole is now producing less energy than it did 17 years ago, and prices have risen significantly," Chris Wright stated after participating in a conference at the headquarters of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) in Paris.
According to the American minister, this policy "has simply moved jobs to Asia. It has reduced economic opportunities for Europeans. It has made it difficult to pay bills and has made Europe heavily dependent on Russia."
After Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025, the United States began a sharp rollback of climate policy. On Thursday, the American president announced the cancellation of a treaty adopted under Barack Obama in 2009, which served as the basis for combating greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, after announcing in January the withdrawal from the landmark climate agreement.
Donald Trump also exited the Paris Climate Agreement immediately after taking office, for the second time, after doing so during his first term. "The real impact of climate change is that the world has become a little warmer, a little greener, a little wetter," Chris Wright said on Tuesday, adding that climate policy "doesn't even have any effect on that."
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, aims to limit warming to well below 2°C, and the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 have become the warmest on record, according to data from the European Copernicus Institute.
Speaking about U.S.-European relations, which have been under serious pressure since Donald Trump announced his intention to acquire Greenland, Chris Wright mentioned the "soft but persistent firmness" that Washington demonstrates.
"The United States is a loyal ally of the European Union. In fact, all the heartfelt firmness of the United States is aimed at encouraging Europe to build a stronger army, a stronger energy system, and a stronger economy," he explained.
"There has never been any possibility of a U.S. invasion of Greenland," the minister also attempted to assure, while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated on Saturday that Donald Trump still 'wants' to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
In response to a question about the oil situation in Venezuela, the minister, who recently visited Caracas, insisted that "the goal is to significantly increase oil production," which, according to him, has already brought in one billion dollars since the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
"All the money is going back to Caracas," he also said, detailing a financing scheme that goes through U.S. Treasury accounts. "All the corrupt networks that were appropriating Venezuelan oil are also being cut off," Mr. Wright stated.
.jpg)
