Steven Chu, Obama’s Remarkable Choice For Secretary Of Energy
Steven Chu, Obama’s Remarkable Choice For Secretary Of Energy
President-elect Barack Obama’s reported selection of Dr. Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy is a bold stroke to set the nation on the path to a clean energy economy. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is the sixth director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a Department of Energy-funded basic science research institution managed by the University of California. After moving to Berkeley Lab from Stanford University in 2004, Chu “has emerged internationally to champion science as society’s best defense against climate catastrophe.” As director, Chu has steered the direction of Berkeley Lab to addressing the climate crisis, pushing for breakthrough research in energy efficiency, solar energy, and biofuels technology.
At Berkeley Lab, Chu has won broad praise as an effective and inspirational leader. “When he was first here, he started giving talks about energy and production of energy,” Bob Jacobsen, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2007. “He didn’t just present a problem. He told us what we could do. It was an energizing thing to see. He’s not a manager, he’s a leader.” In an interview with the Wonk Room, David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at UC Berkeley, described Chu as a “very distinguished researcher” and “an extremely effective manager of cutting edge technology initiatives.” Roland-Holst praised Chu’s work at Lawrence Berkeley, saying “he has succeeded in reconfiguring it for a new generation of sustainable technology R&D, combining world class mainstream science with the latest initiatives in renewable energy and climate adaptation.”
Under Chu’s leadership, Berkeley Lab and other research institutions have founded the Energy Biosciences Institute with $500 million, ten-year grant from energy giant BP, and the Joint BioEnergy Institute with a $125 million grant from the Department of Energy. The BP deal has raised questions and protests about private corporations benefiting from public research. At the dedication of JBEI last Wednesday, Chu “recalled how the nation’s top scientists had rallied in the past to meet critical national needs, citing the development of radar and the atomic bomb during World War II”:
The reality of past threats was apparent to everyone whereas the threat of global climate change is not so immediately apparent. Nonetheless, this threat has just got to be solved. We can’t fail. The fact that we have so many brilliant people working on the problem gives me great hope.
Chu’s leadership extends beyond this nation’s boundaries. As one of the 30 members of the Copenhagen Climate Council, Chu is part of an effort to spur the international community to have the “urgency to establish a global treaty by 2012 which is fit for the purpose of limiting global warming to 2ºC,” whose elements “must be agreed” at the Copenhagen summit in December, 2009.
Last year, Dr. Chu co-chaired a report on “the scientific consensus framework for directing global energy development” for the United Nations’ InterAcademy Council. Lighting the Way describes how developing nations can “‘leapfrog’ past the wasteful energy trajectory followed by today’s industrialized nations” by emphasizing energy efficiency and renewable energy.
It’s hard to decide if the selection of Dr. Chu is more remarkable for who he is — a Nobel laureate physicist and experienced public-sector administrator — or for who is not. Unlike previous secretaries of energy, he is neither a politician, oil man, military officer, lawyer, nor utility executive. His corporate ties are not to major industrial polluters but to advanced technology corporations like AT&T (where he began his Nobel-winning research) and Silicon Valley innovator Nvidia (where he sits on the board of directors). Chu is a man for the moment, and will be a singular addition to Obama’s Cabinet.
The Secretary of Energy is one of the most challenging jobs in the U.S. Government. He will oversee the national energy labs, nuclear triggers on our missiles, clean up of contaminated nuclear sites, and research on fossil fuels and clean renewable energy. DOE oversees nuclear nonproliferation efforts as well as the disposal of nuclear waste. The next Energy Secretary will play a critical role in the design, adoption and implementation of any program to reduce global warming pollution.Dr. Steven Chu has a unique set of qualifications to oversee the unruly Department of Energy –- physicist, energy lab manager, energy efficiency expert. What a contrast compared to President Bush’s first Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham, who was appointed even though he advocated eliminating DOE just a few years earlier. He will bring a scientific rigor to President-elect Obama's clean energy and global warming agenda. Following on the heels of the anti-science Bush administration, its like going to Mensa after spending eight years in the flat earth society.
6 Responses to “Steven Chu, Obama’s Remarkable Choice For Secretary Of Energy”
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Brilliant choice!
It’s so good to know we’ll have intelligent, competent people in Washington again. It’s been a long, hard, eight years.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:32 pmMy only caveat about Chu, and the Obama administration for that matter, on climate, is over the difference between this “limit global warming to 2 degrees C”, and James Hansen’s position, which is that that limit is “a recipe for global disaster”.
Hansen is said to be the leading climatologist in the world by the President of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hansen’s studies of how the planetary system reacted in the past to various levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has him concluding that 2 degrees C, also expressed often as limiting CO2 accumulation to 450 ppm, will result in an ice free planet. This is a global catastrophe, as global seal level would be more than 200 feet higher, wholesale global climate change would occur, the end of this age of life would be certain, and it is difficult to imagine how international tension over change at this scale and speed could possibly not lead to wars. Hansen is the first top flight scientist to take this position, hence Chu is not out of line in having accepted the 2 degree limit previously, but this is quite a difference.
Achieving a 450 ppm target by 2050 is regarded by many as an impossible dream, mainly because it is regarded as so politically difficult to motivate humanity on the global scale required. Hence the entire world has looked to America for leadership and been dismayed until now.
Stabilizing the atmosphere at 325 – 350 ppm as Hansen says his recent work indicates is imperative is regarded as so stunning by many climate campaigners they have simply rejected this scientist, in a way similar to the way people deny climate change is happening at all. Hansen’s target means we must remove some greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as well as stabilize its composition far sooner than anyone foresaw until now.
Translating this debate into terms used for preparation leading to war, imagine a debate in England pre WWII between people who said coping with Hitler would be possible by building up the effort over 40 years. This is the limit warming to 2 degrees position. On the other hand there would have been people who said unfortunately that would be fine if there was time, but the fact is we need to take this problem on immediately with everything we’ve got as a matter of survival because otherwise we will lose everything we value when Hitler invades. Who would have wanted to advocate, or take on, total war in Europe? Nevertheless, the facts indicated that was what was necessary, and people eventually rose to the occasion.
I’m sure Chu is aware of and understands what Hansen thinks. I would feel better seeing him respond to Hansen’s position one day. It is so refreshing to hear a high official say “this threat has just got to be solved. We can’t fail” but it is less reassuring to see the position of “establish a global treaty by 2012 which is fit for the purpose of limiting global warming to 2ºC”. It’s a timetable to implement yesterday’s goal.
If people are really going to conclude we can’t possibly achieve what Hansen’s work indicates is necessary, rather than deny Hansen exists we should then move on to prepare for salvage operations, such as geoengineering, and move as quickly as possible to complete research in this area. People are not understanding how serious this issue is. It is heartening that intelligent people are moving into top positions in Washington.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:42 pmIn answer to the worldwide call for sustainable development to combat the current financial crisis, Sustainable Land Development International (SLDI) respectfully offers a solution that balances the needs of people, planet and profit – for today and future generations.
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December 11th, 2008 at 10:39 amhttp://www.SLDTonline.com
http://www.SURmag.com
http://www.LDBreakthroughs.com
SLDI Newsletter – http://www.sldi.org/newService/SLDIDec2008.html
My one concern about Chu — who seems like a great choice — is whether he is aware of a very promising new green policy option coming out of Europe: green tax cuts. As of last week, in an abrupt reversal, Europe is now on track to adopt broad green tax cuts on a wide variety of energy efficient, green products. The brand new policy, set forth in the European Commission’s new Economic Recovery Plan, has been proposed only in just the last year by prominent politicians from both the left and the right, notably British PM Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. If European leaders, left and right, can so quickly agree on the value of this policy, particularly as one of the few green policies that doubles as an aid to economic recovery, why isn’t it even on the radar of their American counterparts?
Does anyone know if Dr. Chu is aware of or sympathetic to this promising new proposal?
December 12th, 2008 at 12:07 amDr. Steven Chu R. Kenneth Reece
Energy Secretary Designate 12841 Clear Ridge Road
United States of America Knoxville, TN 37922
865-300-1472
tymetogo@att.net
Dear Dr. Chu:
The import of this communication is such that first it must reach your desk expeditiously and second my Curriculum Vitae will be included as an addendum. I am a recently disabled (57 years old and walk with a cane) Senior Nuclear Physicist and most recently as Associate Division Head (for Science and Technology) of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
When I began my career in Nuclear Physics I found that the Accelerators (i.e. Atom Smashers) were more in its “infant stage”. As I was working as a Doctoral Candidate in Nuclear Physics at the Cyclotron Institute at Texas A&M University, I found that there was a gaping need for trained scientists to focus on “Atom Smashers” and therefore tried to change my focus to Accelerators which were sadly lacking within the USA. I thus tried to change to Accelerator Physics to no avail.
After nearly thirty years in the growing field of Accelerator Physics, I have worked tirelessly to upgrades, Improvement Projects, New Initiatives and New Accelerators. For more than twenty years I worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory on these projects as a design scientist, Radiation Safety Committee Chair (for more than a decade), commissioning and operations.
As one who has been on the reviewed side I can say that the reviewers, although qualified, missed several issues and/or “short changed” rather important issues that should have been reviewed in more depth. I am more than qualified and ready to ask these tough questions with appointment of personnel responsible to provide answers to the reviewing committee. Most of these questions include pathways for upgrades, more efficient operation and therefore adhering to safety requirements.
I am uniquely qualified to act in the role of reviewer of Scientific Projects both large and small. As an example, the tenure of Radiation Safety Committee Chair is three years but apparently I was too effective because I spent nearly four times that period as Brookhaven National Laboratory Chair reviewing aspects ranging from a simple device-in-kind replacement to a stand-alone nearly $1 Billion project.
This kind of major role review should be necessary for all new projects to assure complete acceptance. My disability restricts me to primarily physical limitations (cane, no driving, medication on a regular basis, etc.). If not me for this role then it should be someone with similar qualifications; however, I have sat on the side being reviewed during many, many formal and informal reviews and this alone provides me with a unique (and often contrary to my superiors opinions) that were Not sought by the reviewers.
Recognizing the unique perspective I have in the oversight of Physics and other Major Construction Projects could provide very qualified “eyes and ears” in terms of fiscal responsibility AND judge whether additional aspects may be required; or eliminated. The physical pain I suffer constantly is of no consequence if given an opportunity to serve this magnificent country and administration. Pride alone provides an excitement and diligence that would see me through the difficult times.
One issue that is lost on all too many in the US bureaucracy (and IS a fundamental piece of the Projects in other countries) is that technical efforts and construction projects can be (and should be) an important area for teaching the younger generation of US students and construction workers. The payback of this thought is immeasurable as Intellectual Property can and should be developed in the USA; not as isolationists but to prepare our citizens to compete on a level playing field on the World Stage. This intangible and individual ownership of “wealth” will be passed along the generations with ever growing importance and further dissemination.
In closing, among the millions of honorable people to whom their job loss has been no fault of their own, I ask for the opportunity to serve the incoming administration in a limited fashion and pass on the knowledge, thought processes and management skills I have acquired throughout my time as a working Scientist. In addition, there is the hope that in the process some of the lost positions may be restored; whether retrofit, extended, etc. My experience working within sometimes constraining regulations with little benefit in the end, I can be of use in reviewing and offering modifications to regulations to make them more useful.
I pledge to both carry-out the wishes of the administration while simultaneously fulfilling the stated questions I may have so that I may provide those to whom I will report various options, improvements, unnecessary items and scientific expertise from an individual who the advancement is of much less importance than the monetary boundaries and the improvement of the issue at hand.
Finally, as one who has had to identify and change direction of design, construction, operation, etc. quickly, I can adapt to serve as a competent reviewer of new technologies and assess their best adaptation. These proposals will require someone with a wide view who can then focus on each option and suggest the best application(s) for each; this is a requisite ability to advance our collective technologies. Briefly, in this are the myriad options for alternative energy production and usage including retrofit of existing energy production to minimize the impact on the environment.
Curriculum Vitae
R. Kenneth Reece
12841 Clear Ridge Road
Knoxville, TN. 37922
865-300-1472
tymetogo@att.net
1. A.S., Cape Cod Community College, 1974 (major – Physics and Mathematics).
January 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm2. B.S., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 1976 (major – Physics (nuclear) and Mathematics (& Statistics). During this period, the Institute required the standard Book Knowledge and also an
Interactive Qualifying Thesis (Mine – preparing and conducting a lesson plan to instruct a class on the Derivation and use Maxwell’s Equations and their extension to Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity during a Semester at Cape Cod Community College). Also required for graduation was a hands-on Major Qualifying Thesis (Mine – conducting and documenting the myriad excitation and decay traits of Cobalt 60. This required a nearly complete assembly of a 1MeV Van de Graaff which was literally in pieces. All three of these tasks must have been successfully completed to receive the B.S. degree.
3. Doctoral Candidate, Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, (major – Experimental Nuclear Physics – thorough spectroscopy of Giant Monopole Resonances of both symmetric and highly asymmetric nuclei (Sm141)). Did not complete degree, in part due to the poor operation of the Cyclotron; I became extremely interested in the complication and operation of the accelerator. Increasingly, I found myself first observing then controlling the various tools available to improve the injection and acceleration. Accelerator Physics was a too new field and also I had a baby on the way so I chose to find real employment to support my family.
4. The Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory allowed me to work on learning the field of Accelerator Physics and applying it to improving the operation and diversity of the AGS. I eventually became Accelerator (Liaison & Operation) Physicist for the AGS Booster Synchrotron during design, construction and operation. Then (for over a decade in a normally 3 year term) I became the Chairman of the Radiation Safety Committee which is responsible for review and approval of ALL experiments, changes (including intensity, beam loss studies, etc. and routine reviews) of any accelerator and surrounding area classification(s) including the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).
5. Moved to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to become the Associate Division Director of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) throughout the design, safety and construction of the Project. Participated in most of the DOE reviews from 1996 to 2003 when I was involved in a near fatal and career ending auto accident.
6. [multiple publications re: Accelerator modifications, operation, design, etc. upon request].
If you look at comments by our new Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the future of Solar energy looks grim. Here is a quote from http://news.cnet.com from Mr. Chu in an interview By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News:
Question: When you look at the alternatives to coal, oil and gas, the one that gets mentioned the most is solar. Do you think it will become one of the primary sources of energy?
Chu: I think in the long run it can be. In the short run, in the next 10 or 20 years, it won’t be probably.
Mr. Chu seems to think the answer is in Coal and Nuclear Energy. Here is another quote from the same article:
Question: Is there much hope there?
Chu: Boy, it might have to be at least in the interim until we can get photovoltaic cells down by an order of magnitude or until we get the biomass up and running. We are going to have to have to do something in the next 50 years. The world will increasingly turn to coal and possibly nuclear.
Does this sound like the Bush Administration Policy?
January 21st, 2009 at 4:39 pm