By Michael Kraten, PhD, CPA
On November 16, CNBC reported that President-Elect Trump selected Liberty Energy’s CEO Chris Wright to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. CNBC asserted that “Wright has denied that climate change presents a global crisis that needs to be addressed through a transition away from fossil fuels.”
That sounds like Wright is a climate change denier, doesn’t it? If that’s the case, though, why does Liberty Energy publish an annual ESG Report? And why did Liberty begin to present selected SASB metrics in its Report in 2024?
A simple review of the Report answers these questions. Despite CNBC’s contrary assertion, Wright does not deny that climate change exists. Instead, he posits that the environmental benefits of addressing climate change are outweighed by the economic and social costs of our energy transition strategies.
That’s a very different argument. It’s one that is grounded in Cost Benefit Analysis, a critical function of Sustainability Accounting.
As far back as 2016, at SILC’s annual conference, plenary panelist Jane-Gleeson White declared that accountants can save the planet by developing and implementing analytical metrics that guide sustainability decisions.
By defining ESG policy in terms of Cost Benefit Analysis, Wright appears to agree with her position. However, we must read ESG Reports like Liberty Energy’s — and not simply rely on brief news reports — to understand the policy positions of our public officials.