Ernie Moniz To Lead the U.S. Department of Energy

It’s hard to know what to make of this week’s unanimous Senate vote, confirming Ernie Moniz as the new U.S. Energy Secretary, replacing the outgoing Steven Chu.  If you’re a fan of a sustainable energy policy, it’s certainly not a good sign when 100% of Senate Republicans like the way a certain person thinks.  Of course, in addition to his work in support of renewable energy, Moniz does have deep ties to the oil and natural gas people.

I suppose I’m hoping that he’ll push aggressively for the only thing the clean energy industry really needs: a level playing field where fossil fuels are not:

• provided with lucrative subsidies

• offered favorable and exclusive means of capital formation (master limited partnerships), and

• given a free pass on the health problems and long-term environmental damage they create.

Not to sound cynical, but the mere concept of a unanimous confirmation in Washington means that we would be foolish to be holding our collective breath for progressive action here.