Gabby Kientzle, gabby.kientzle@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – This morning, Energy Secretary and former fracking executive Chris Wright posted on X that claims that climate change is making weather more dangerous and severe are “just nonsense.”
The connection between climate change and increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events is well documented in numerous studies and reports. Wildfires are currently raging in Arizona and California, and much of the Midwest and Northeast are under air quality warnings resulting from fires burning in Canada. Last month, extreme rainfall and flooding killed at least 120 people in Texas.
In response, Sierra Club Acting Executive Director Loren Blackford released the following statement:
“Americans are dying, families are losing their homes, and entire communities are being destroyed because of the climate crisis. Sticking your head in the sand as the water rises around you will not change that. Cherry-picking and skewing data will not change that. And absurd tweets will certainly never change that. Climate denial may now be the official policy of the United States government, but Secretary Wright’s comments are a slap in the face to communities across the country that are reeling from the horrors of climate change-fueled extreme weather events. This administration’s shameful refusal to acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis and take action to stop it will only put more communities in harm’s way.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.