Obama nominates physicist for Energy Secretary

President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Steven Chu, a Nobel prize winning experimental physicist and the current director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next US Energy Secretary.

The US president-elect made the announcement at a Chicago press conference today. Obama appears to share the opinion of the majority of climate scientists, who put the blame for our present climate crisis squarely at the door of humanity. He also sees the US addiction to oil as politically dangerous, saying that it supports hostile regimes and leaves the US dependent on unstable regions. By developing a "new energy economy", Obama claims that new jobs will be created at home and that the country - as well as the rest of the world - will have a common purpose to rally around.

Steven Chu shared the Nobel prize for physics in 1997 for his work on laser cooling and trapping. He has since been a highly vocal proponent for greater investment in scientific solutions to cut greenhouse gas emissions and for the development of renewable, carbon-neutral energy sources. As director of Lawrence Berkeley he has made the lab a world leader in alternative energy research.

It is not only good to see an experimental physicist being nominated for such a prestigious and powerful position, or to see that critical environmental issues are going to be a high priority for the next US administration, it is also encouraging that the new administration shows such an appreciation for the value of both science and scientists.

See also:

• Nobel laureate goes to Washington? [Physics World 11/12/08]
• Obama picks Nobel man for Energy [BBC News 16/12/08]