The US Senate confirmed fracking pioneer Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy, elevating another cabinet official committed to President Trump’s agenda to “drill, baby, drill” by boosting fossil fuel production nationwide.

Wright, 59, was approved in a 59-38 vote, with both Republicans and Democrats supporting his confirmation as the next energy secretary after clearing a procedural hurdle last week on a bipartisan basis as well.

The president is seeking to double down on oil. Here's a guide to his chances.

With one flourish of a presidential pen, they will be free. Amid the blizzard of executive orders that President Trump has said he will sign in the next few hours, one of the most significant, for the economy at least, will be his decision to end the rules forcing American auto manufacturers to focus their energies on electric vehicles.

While carbon dioxide is a small part of the atmosphere, it has a large impact on climate as a greenhouse gas. AllSides highlights content from Gigafact, a network of newsrooms that respond to online claims. View the full fact brief on Skeptical Science.

Wright is a fossil fuel executive, and at the confirmation hearing, he pledged to support all forms of "reliable" energy – including solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal.

But Wright's past social media posts drew controversy. In a 2023 Linkedin post he wrote, "The hype over wildfires is just hype to justify more impoverishment from bad government policies."

The prime minister of Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region said on Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports.

The cutoff, prompted by Ukraine's refusal to renew an agreement allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine, has led to daily blackouts in the pro-Russian region of some 350,000 people and disruptions in heating and water supplies.

Chinese and Indian refiners will source more oil from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and freight costs, as new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and ships curb supplies to Moscow's top customers, traders and analysts said.

The U.S. Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM), opens new tab and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, targeting the revenues Moscow has used to fund its war with Ukraine.

ExxonMobil is continuing to push back against activists who have long demonized the company as "deceiving the public" about the impacts of fossil fuels. On Monday, Exxon filed a defamation lawsuit against in the Federal District of Eastern Texas against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, including the Sierra Club. 

Three oil companies will pay a record penalty to settle allegations that they illegally coordinated before a merger between them was complete in 2021 and 2022, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said XCL Resources Holdings, Verdun Oil Company II and EP Energy LLC (EP) will pay a record $5.6 million in the civil case.