Climate Politics

US Urges Eastern Europe to Split From EU Energy Transition Aims

Chris Wright speaks during a press conference before the Three Seas Initiative Summit in Warsaw, Poland, on April 28.

Photographer: Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images
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The US wants central and eastern European countries to join its path of “energy freedom” instead of following the wider region’s transition to a net zero economy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in Warsaw.

The Energy Secretary told the Three Seas Business Forum — which numerous leaders from the region attended Monday — that western Europe chose the wrong path of expensive “top-down imposition of enforced climate policies.” He argued that renewables investments weigh on growth and boost revenues of foreign companies, and that eastern Europe should pick a different path.