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OBAMA CHOOSES CHU ON ENERGY

The Guardian|The National Review|The Washington Post

December 11, 2008 04:04 PM

The just-announced selection of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as U.S. energy secretary by President-elect Barack Obama is generating a lot more chatter than this Cabinet post usually receives.

During his campaign Obama declared he would encourage programs supporting energy innovation, and advocate adopting measures to combat global warming. In the past, Chu has recommended a mix of political and fiscal policies, along with technical innovation, to address climate change.

With today’s choice of Chu as energy secretary, Obama sends a signal as to how he intends to address the country’s energy crisis. But what that signal might be, depends on what you read.

We bring you viewpoints from the Washington Post, the National Review and the UK’s Guardian.

The Guardian

Barack Obama's choice of a Nobel laureate in physics to head his energy team has raised expectations of a strong drive to roll back George Bush's policies on climate change and environmental protection.

The choice of those with strong science and regulatory backgrounds was broadly welcomed in the environmental community. It was seen as a repudiation of the last eight years when Bush dismissed the science on global warming, and weakened environmental protections.

The National Review

First, it should be pointed out that the selection of Steven Chu at the Department of Energy is a pretty good one, all things considered.…Press accounts paint him as a climate-change warrior, but that doesn’t quite get the story right. Yes, he thinks global warming requires critical action, and that we must act before it’s too late. But unlike the conventional liberal recipe for dealing with climate change — mandates, strictures, and expansions of government authority (the economy be damned!) — Chu has long focused on developing transformative technologies to provide answers to the climate-change conundrum.

The Washington Post

The appointments suggest that Obama plans to make a strong push for measures to combat global warming and programs to support energy innovation. "I think it's a great team," said Daniel A. Lashof, director of the Climate Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "On policy, it's a dramatic contrast based on what I know about the policy direction that all these folks will be bringing to these positions."