Profile of the day: New US Secretary of Energy

Nobel Prize winner, and US Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu

Was anyone in your family impressed when you won the Nobel Prize in Physics?

Probably, but who knows? I called my mother up when they announced the Nobel Prize, waiting until 7 in the morning. She said, “That’s nice — and when are you going to see me next?”

Is it true you don’t drive a car?

My wife does, but I no longer own a car. Let me just say that in most of my jobs, I mostly rode my bicycle.

And now?

My security detail didn’t want me to be riding my bicycle or even taking the Metro. I have a security detail that drives me.

How do you feel about adding carbon emissions to the air?

I don’t feel good about it.

I guess the president wants to keep you alive.

My wife is in favor of that as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19wwln-q4-t.html?_r=4&ref=energy-environment



Short discussion on fuels:



Wkipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Chu

Chu: I enrolled in a two-year, introductory physics sequence that used The Feynman Lectures in Physics as the textbook. The Lectures were mesmerizing and inspirational. Feynman made physics seem so beautiful and his love of the subject is shown through each page. Learning to do the problem sets was another matter, and it was only years later that I began to appreciate what a magician he was at getting answers.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/chu-autobio.html

US department of Energy profile: http://www.energy.gov/organization/dr_steven_chu.htm

But Chu told senators nuclear power would be an “essential part of our energy mix.”: http://thehill.com/the-executive/sens.-hear-chus-support-for-role-of-nuclear-power-2009-03-11.html

Steven Chu: ‘Coal is My Worst Nightmare’:http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/12/11/steven-chu-coal-is-my-worst-nightmare/

"Another myth is [that] we have all the technologies we need to solve the energy challenge. It's only a matter of political will," he says. "I think political will is absolutely necessary... but we need new technologies to transform the [energy] landscape:
"http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/10/steven-chu-new-energy/