BRUSSELS — The U.K.’s policy of boosting renewable energy production while winding down domestic oil and gas extraction is a mistake that has left the country poorer, Washington’s top energy official has claimed.

Speaking on a conference call with reporters during a visit to Brussels Thursday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said President Donald Trump’s strategy is to “unleash American energy” and drive down costs for industry.

The EU, he said, has “ambitious” plans to buy more American gas, in a bid to ensure security of supplies and bolster economic competitiveness.

However, he took aim at successive British governments for their approach to the net-zero transition.

“The U.K. example is to me heartbreaking — to see the birthplace of the industrial revolution export almost all of its energy-intensive industry, its steelmaking, its petrochemical making, its aluminium fabrication. It’s been tough to watch as an outsider,” Wright said.

Britain, he went on, “has had the largest drop in terms of greenhouse gas emissions of any country in the world, 40 percent. But what you don’t hear as much about is almost three quarters of that drop is attributed to reduced energy consumption.”

That, he claimed, is because “energy intensive manufacturing left the country.” 

Wright made the comments ahead of Donald Trump’s second state visit to the U.K. next week, when he will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer and attend a banquet hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle.

Over the summer, Trump used a sit-down at his golf course in Scotland to take aim at Britain’s expansion of renewable energy, particularly wind power, which he insisted was harmful to the environment and “a disaster.”

“It is the worst form of energy, the most expensive form of energy, but windmills should not be allowed,” Trump said.

Experts and fact-checkers have repeatedly pointed out that this assessment does not reflect the scientific or economic reality of the technology.

The UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment.