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DOE: Expected Chu departure sparks second-term speculation
http://eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2012/11/01/1
DOE: Expected Chu departure sparks second-term speculation
Nick Juliano, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Thursday, November 1, 2012
No matter who wins the White House next week, Steven Chu is widely expected to soon book a one-way ticket back to California, sparking heightened speculation over who may be tapped to take over after his embattled term leading the Department of Energy if President Obama is re-elected.
Chu has not announced his plans, and a DOE spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. But it is all but impossible to find anyone in Washington energy circles who thinks he will be sticking around if Obama wins re-election, after four years facing sharp criticism over nearly everything in DOE's portfolio, especially the loan guarantee program.
"The working assumption by many here is that Secretary Chu will move back to California," said one energy policy expert who works with the administration and asked not to be identified. "That's completely understandable; he's accomplished a heck of a lot in four years in Washington, particularly for someone more accustomed to the warmer and friendlier climes in California."
Supporters of the energy secretary say he has been unfairly maligned by congressional Republicans who have homed in on the handful of failed loan guarantee recipients, most notably the bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, while ignoring companies that have succeeded after receiving DOE loan guarantees and other efforts within the department to boost clean energy research and development.
<snip>
DOE: Expected Chu departure sparks second-term speculation
Nick Juliano, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Thursday, November 1, 2012
No matter who wins the White House next week, Steven Chu is widely expected to soon book a one-way ticket back to California, sparking heightened speculation over who may be tapped to take over after his embattled term leading the Department of Energy if President Obama is re-elected.
Chu has not announced his plans, and a DOE spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. But it is all but impossible to find anyone in Washington energy circles who thinks he will be sticking around if Obama wins re-election, after four years facing sharp criticism over nearly everything in DOE's portfolio, especially the loan guarantee program.
"The working assumption by many here is that Secretary Chu will move back to California," said one energy policy expert who works with the administration and asked not to be identified. "That's completely understandable; he's accomplished a heck of a lot in four years in Washington, particularly for someone more accustomed to the warmer and friendlier climes in California."
Supporters of the energy secretary say he has been unfairly maligned by congressional Republicans who have homed in on the handful of failed loan guarantee recipients, most notably the bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, while ignoring companies that have succeeded after receiving DOE loan guarantees and other efforts within the department to boost clean energy research and development.
<snip>
Another victim of the Republican war on science.
The article names some people who might replace Chu.
