Donald Trump’s nominee for energy secretary, Chris Wright, is facing criticism for disputing the ties between climate change and more frequent or severe wildfires, the Washington Post reports, a stance that is contrary to scientific consensus.

During Wright’s US Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Democrats, including the California senator Alex Padilla, challenged Wright over past comments, pointing to a LinkedIn post calling wildfire concerns “hype” and dismissing their connection to climate policies.

Padilla accused Wright of downplaying the real and deadly effects of wildfires. When the senator asked whether Wright stood by those comments in light of the catastrophic blazes in his home state, Wright responded that he believes that climate change is a global phenomenon and that he stands by his past comments.

Despite Democratic opposition, Senate Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority, favored Wright’s nomination. Wright pledged to advocate for expanded fossil fuel production during the hearing.

Scientific studies contradict Wright’s claims. Climate change has, in fact, contributed to the increased frequency and severity of wildfires, including those in Los Angeles.

The fires at the center of the tense exchange have burned more than 40,000 acres (16,187 hectares) and killed at least 25 people. The two largest infernos, the Palisades and Eaton fires, are 19% and 45% contained, respectively.

During the confirmation hearing, the senator Angus King, an independent senator from Maine, said he thinks Wright’s position on climate change is “more subtle than is publicly recognized” and that he doesn’t deny climate change is happening or that it’s related to the combustion of fossil fuels, which are drastically increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Wright responded “absolutely”, adding that “mostly from the combustion of hydrocarbons to enable our modern world, we’ve increased atmospheric CO2 concentration by 50%”, making it harder for the Earth to shed heat.

Though Wright said climate change is real, he also said “there isn’t dirty energy or clean energy”. Rather, he said, there are different sources of energy with different tradeoffs.