Obama Energy Choice Backs Natural Gas as ‘Bridge Fuel’ to Reach Clean Energy
From Star Tribune
By Matthew Daly
President Barack Obama‘s choice to lead the Energy Department advocates an all-of-the-above approach to energy and favors natural gas as a “bridge fuel” to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.
Ernest Moniz, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, leads the MIT Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from BP, Chevron and other oil industry heavyweights for academic work aimed at reducing greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. A former energy undersecretary, Moniz has advised Obama on numerous energy topics, including how to handle the country’s nuclear waste and the natural gas produced by the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing.
“Ernie knows that we can produce more energy and grow our economy while still taking care of our air, our water and our climate,” Obama said Monday as he introduced Moniz and two other candidates for top-level positions.
Gina McCarthy, an assistant EPA administrator, was chosen to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. A 25-year veteran of environmental policy and politics, McCarthy has worked for Republicans and Democrats, including Obama’s presidential rival, Mitt Romney, who tapped her to help draft state plans for curbing the pollution linked to global warming when he was governor of Massachusetts.
