U.S. energy chief says fossil fuels could help prevent sexual assaults in Africa

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested on Thursday that the expansion of fossil fuel use in Africa would help protect people there from sexual assault, a comment that drew a swift rebuke from environmental activists.

Perry, a former Texas governor who has pushed to expand U.S. oil, gas and coal output and exports, made the remark while discussing a trip he made to South Africa last week.

He said a young woman from a village told him that electricity was important to her not only because it would free her from having to read by the light of a fire with choking fumes, but also from the standpoint of sexual assault.

“When the lights are on, when you have light, it shines the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts,” Perry, a Republican, told the event hosted by Axios and NBC News.

“From the standpoint of how you really affect people’s lives, fossil fuel is going to play a role in that,” he said.

The Sierra Club, an environmental group that campaigns for increased use of wind and solar power, called for Perry to resign after his comments.

“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,” said the group’s director, Michael Brune.