Where’s the Energy Secretary?

Matt touched on this, but, seriously. There was a lot of talk from Obama about how his national-security team understands the integrated challenges of 21st century global affairs, and how that includes ending the U.S. dependence on foreign oil and combating climate change and addressing the growing resource scarcity in fuel, water and food. So where’s the Energy Secretary-designate? That’s a pretty serious omission given Obama’s stated goals.

John Robert BEHRMAN

Spencer,

I am not disappointed about the delay. No rush:

The DoE is pretty marginal when it comes to actual energy policy compared to the rest of the DoD, even the Navy Department, Interior, State, Treasury, even the god-forsaken Commerce Department ....

In any case, "Stick A Windmill On It" is not really an energy policy. First, we need a thinker, like James Schlesinger was and Granger Morgan (CMU) is -- someone who can think like an economist-engineer, not a bond-lawyer.

There is precedent for this in the New Deal. To be sure, that was financially simpler than what we face today. Inside the Beltway, Tommy Corcoran is best remembered. But, part of it was actual and effective, usually secret, military-industrial policy. Look at what John Kenneth Galbraith, Lucius D. Clay, Will Clayton did.

Everybody named today is going to be working in what are called "silos". But, energy policy, like counter-terrorism, cannot work that way. It will just degenerate into bi-partisan concession-tending, financial cronyism, rank protectionism, aka Congressional pork and executive corruption.

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