The US energy secretary, Rick Perry, has said he thinks using fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault, sparking criticism from the Sierra Club, which accused Perry of exploiting the struggle of those most affected by climate change.



Perry, who was at an energy conference in Africa last week, said on Thursday that fossil fuels used to power electricity could help developing regions in the continent.

The Trump administration has been pushing to increase domestic production of fossil fuels for export, with Perry specifically challenging what he calls an inaccurate narrative pushed by environmentalists that fossil fuels are harmful because they contribute to climate change.

“Let me tell you where people are dying, is in Africa, because of the lack of energy they have there,” Perry said at an event sponsored by the news site Axios and NBC News.



“And it’s going to take fossil fuels to push power out into those villages in Africa, where a young girl told me to my face: ‘One of the reasons that electricity is so important to me is not only because I’m not going to have to try and read by the light of a fire and have those fumes literally killing people.’”



He continued: “But also from the standpoint of sexual assault. When the lights are on, when you have light that shines the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts.”

Perry’s remark comes amid an uproar over sexual assault allegations against the film mogul Harvey Weinstein that has spread to other industries and politics.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest environmental group, called Perry’s comments offensive.



“It was already clear that Rick Perry is unfit to lead the Department of Energy, but to suggest that fossil fuel development will decrease sexual assault is not only blatantly untrue, it is an inexcusable attempt to minimize a serious and pervasive issue,” Brune said in a statement.

“Women, and particularly women of color, are among the most severely impacted by the climate crisis, and it is these same communities that are most at risk of sexual assault,” Brune said.

Perry’s “attempt to exploit this struggle to justify further dangerous fossil fuel development is unacceptable”, Brune said, adding that Perry should resign immediately.

Shaylyn Hynes, a Department of Energy spokeswoman, told the Hill that in Africa, “one person told [Perry] about how light can be a deterrent to sexual assault and security in remote areas”.

She added: “Those powerful stories stuck with him and that is what he was sharing with the crowd in Washington today.”

On the 2012 presidential campaign trail, Perry called for the Department of Energy to be abolished.

In January, at a Senate confirmation hearing to lead the agency he once pledged to eliminate, Perry said he regretted calling for the department’s destruction.