Chris Wright, a Denver energy company executive who denies that climate change is a pressing threat, is President-elect Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. Why it matters: The appointment puts Wright,

President-elect Donald Trump named oil industry CEO Chris Wright to lead the Energy Department, installing a vocal critic of government efforts to fight climate change as the head of the agency at the forefront of the Biden administration’s clean energy push.

Denver-based oil executive Chris Wright could be the nation's next Energy Department secretary, President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday.