Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the nation's energy future

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/29/AR2010032901892.html

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the nation's energy future

By Fareed Zakaria
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

During the 2008 campaign -- before the global economic crisis -- Barack Obama said the top three things he wanted to accomplish as president included withdrawing troops from Iraq, reforming health care and putting in place a new energy policy. A health-care bill has passed, and U.S. combat troops are on their way out of Iraq later this year. Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek and The Post recently discussed the third priority with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. Excerpts:

Q: How would you describe Obama's energy policy in a few sentences?

A: We look at all the factors and we say, How can we get to the lowest possible level of carbon as quickly as possible and not only at the lowest cost, but with the greatest possible economic opportunity for the U.S.?

When people look at the fiscal stimulus, some say, "If only they'd taken this opportunity to make major investments in energy, science and infrastructure." Do you believe you are making those investments?

I would say that we are making those investments, though in some areas the effort is just to get something started. The Department of Energy is responsible for the entire energy innovation chain -- from basic science research to applied research, to even beginning to help deploy and scale (new technologies). You fund for a very short period of time -- two years, three years maximum -- in hopes of opening up something big. So we are saying, "Swing for the fences." Now if you swing for the fences, you may strike out more. But we want a few home runs.

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