Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate scientist who is President-elect Obama’s choice to be energy secretary, said in testimony prepared for his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that high oil prices were a threat to the economy, saying that “last year’s rapid spike in oil and gasoline prices not only contributed to the recession we are now experiencing, it also put a huge strain on the budgets of families all across America.’’ He called for a “greater, more committed push towards energy independence, and with it a more secure energy system.’’
He had told the Wall Street Journal last September , “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,”
And he has said point blank that some of the technologies that Federal dollars are pursuing would be nice to have, but are not today ready for use, either because they are too expensive to be practical, or not demonstrated to be safe. In this category he puts. sequestering the carbon dioxide from power plants, recycling nuclear fuel to reduce its volume and recover unused fuel, and making ethanol from cellulose essentially woody wastes or non-crop plants.
Haase - Mr. Chu is 'dead on' many energy and environmental issues... Like Mr. Chu, I would not want all my comments viewed as a singular viewpoint on these subjects. Issues are not as simple as a paraphrase they publish about your ideas.
'boost the price of gasoline?' - Unless we slowly embrace the reality of the 'true cost' of fuels we will be hit with $200 a barrel gas before 2012. Mr. Chu is wisely suggesting a offensive plan to stabilizes these cost to families as they hit the 'true price'.
Unless tactical offensive measures on energy independence are taken, we will hit an oil bubble that makes the financial market crash look like a hiccup'.
