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.