From the Wonk Room.
In his first interview as Secretary of
Energy, Steven Chu “offered some of the starkest comments
yet
on how seriously President Obama’s cabinet views the threat of climate
change, along with a detailed assessment of the administration’s plans
to combat it.” Secretary Chu told the Los Angeles Times that the nation
is like a family buying an old house and being told by an inspector
that it must pay a hefty sum to rewire it or risk an electrical fire
that could burn everything down>
I’m hoping that the American people will wake up.
Chu also worried the nation doesn’t yet recognize how great a threat global warming represents:
I don’t think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen.
One danger Chu highlighted in the interview was rising drought throughout the West, with major declines in the snowpack that waters California. In the worst case, Chu said:
We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California. I don’t actually see how they can keep their cities going.
Chu described “public education as a key part of the administration’s strategy to fight global warming” – in addition to clean energy research, infrastructure, a national renewable electricity standard, and a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.