Reuters
February 6, 2013
Exclusive - Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary: sources say
President Barack Obama is considering naming nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz, one of his science and energy advisers, as the next energy secretary, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
Moniz, who was undersecretary at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration, is a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, where he has often talked to lawmakers about how abundant supplies of U.S. natural gas will gradually replace coal as a source of electricity.
Moniz is director of MIT's Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP, Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases.
He did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on Wednesday evening.
Obama gave a speech at MIT early in his first term where he praised the Energy Initiative's research and spoke about the urgent need to address climate change - a cause he has pledged to elevate again as a top priority for his second term.
Obama is in the process of reshaping his energy and environmental policy team.
Earlier on Wednesday he nominated Sally Jewell, chief executive of outdoor retailer REI, to be interior secretary, overseeing the national parks and vast U.S. energy reserves.
He is also expected to name a new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency. Sources told Reuters Gina McCarthy, a top official in charge of air quality at the EPA, is the leading candidate for the job.
Moniz is a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group that gives Obama recommendations on the role of science and innovation in the economy.
Moniz would replace Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who announced last week he plans to step down.
February 6, 2013
Exclusive - Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary: sources say
President Barack Obama is considering naming nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz, one of his science and energy advisers, as the next energy secretary, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
Moniz, who was undersecretary at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration, is a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, where he has often talked to lawmakers about how abundant supplies of U.S. natural gas will gradually replace coal as a source of electricity.
Moniz is director of MIT's Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP, Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases.
He did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on Wednesday evening.
Obama gave a speech at MIT early in his first term where he praised the Energy Initiative's research and spoke about the urgent need to address climate change - a cause he has pledged to elevate again as a top priority for his second term.
Obama is in the process of reshaping his energy and environmental policy team.
Earlier on Wednesday he nominated Sally Jewell, chief executive of outdoor retailer REI, to be interior secretary, overseeing the national parks and vast U.S. energy reserves.
He is also expected to name a new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency. Sources told Reuters Gina McCarthy, a top official in charge of air quality at the EPA, is the leading candidate for the job.
Moniz is a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group that gives Obama recommendations on the role of science and innovation in the economy.
Moniz would replace Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who announced last week he plans to step down.
Comments
Ah, style over substance. That is the NNSA mantra.
"Ah, style over substance. That is the NNSA mantra.
February 9, 2013 at 12:15 PM"
It is neither style nor substance that matter. What matters is perception, if he can give the right perception of the labs that matters. Substance is no longer a useful concept and you better understand that it is perception and only perception that matters now.
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Dr. Ernie Moniz discusses the Nuclear Option
The earthquake and tsunami that ravaged parts of Japan and severely damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have sparked fears of radiation exposure and a potential meltdown. Here in the United States those realities have renewed the debate over the future of American nuclear power plants – and have thrust nuclear energy development into the limelight as both America's answer to its growing electricity needs as well as one of its greatest security threats. In this show excerpt, Dan Rather returns to MIT for a follow up discussion with Dr. Ernie Moniz, Director of the MIT Energy Initiative, on the future of nuclear.
http://web.mit.edu/nse/news/2011/moniz-nuclear-option.html
February 9, 2013 at 4:33 PM
Hopefully he has the "balls" to resolve the Yucca Mountain issue that Chu ignored for 4-years.