.Best Hope for the Planet

Steven Chu

The Bush White House was infamous for politicizing science. The
administration was full of political hacks who not only denied the
existence of global warming, but questioned the theory of evolution.
Thankfully, the election of Barack Obama has changed all of that. And
the choice of Energy Secretary Steven Chu provides definitive proof
that the new president has returned science to its rightful place. The
former UC Berkeley professor and head of the Lawrence Berkeley National
Lab who won a Nobel Prize for physics also represents our best hope for
finally addressing global warming at the federal level. Chu is a strong
believer and advocate for green-energy technology, from wind and solar
power to electric cars and biofuels. So far, he has used his bully
pulpit to issue strong warnings about the many dangers of greenhouse
gas emissions. And as head of a federal department with access to $39
billion in stimulus funds, he has already begun to steer national
energy and environmental policy. Last month, he announced a $6 billion
loan to Ford to make more fuel-efficient cars, along with loans of $2
billion and $465 million to Nissan and Tesla Motors of San Francisco to
develop electric vehicles. He has awarded about $800 billion to
biofuels technology and $3.9 billion to start building a “smart”
electrical grid to improve the transmission of wind and solar power.
Plus, he has moved to eliminate financial boondoggles such as hydrogen
power. Imagine what he’ll have accomplished after a full four years on
the job.

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