Steven Chu Speaks at the Energy Efficiency Summit

I’m spending the day at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s annual Energy Efficiency Summit.  This year, the focus is on materials science – an area of interest for me, though not necessarily one of expertise.  Having said that, I feel I’m in the right place to learn; energy efficiency requires advanced materials, and UCSB is ranked #1 in the nation in this arena.

This morning’s keynote was delivered by Dr. Steven Chu, who recently retired as U.S. Secretary of Energy, where he had served since 2009.  Ironically, Dr. Chu was the first scientist ever to serve in that capacity, and the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics of which he was the co-recipient serves as a reminder of what a distinguished thinker he is, and how we as a country were so lucky to have tapped his wisdom and vision in that critical position.  His talk here was almost exclusively technical, covering the areas of materials science that are most critical to re-establishing U.S. leadership in the global manufacturing scene, as well as putting people back to work.

In a question I put to him publicly at the conclusion of the talk, I asked him about the “50,000-foot view of the energy picture,” and how frustrating it must have been operating in a sphere so dominated by Big Oil/Big Money.  “Here you are, trying to get our country on the right track, in an environment in which the oil industry lobby is the largest and most powerful in the known universe.  Didn’t you find that upsetting, at least occasionally?”

In response, he told a story of how the oil and gas people made the rounds in Washington recently to ensure that no one in Congress and no one holding a significant appointed position would consider allowing the renewable energy industry to be entitled to the same privileges in capital formation that are, by law, currently enjoyed only by oil, coal, and pipelines.  At stake is the right to use “Master Limited Partnerships” (MLPs) – powerful tools that provide advantages in raising money for large projects, thus lowering the costs of capital, and providing fossil fuel projects with a distinct edge over solar, wind, etc.  Dr. Chu was pleased to report that a bill that would level the playing field has emerged in Congress, and that it is gaining support from both sides of the aisle.  He was obviously happy that, at least in this case, the oil industry will eventually lose this unfair competitive advantage.

He also smiled when he explained that Washington is working on a revenue-neutral carbon tax that is also gaining momentum.

In response to my suggestion that he was frustrated per se, he seemed unwilling to discuss his personal response to the national energy picture.  Even in a private conversation I had with him later on a “networking break,” he seemed pretty unflappable.  He’s quite a gentleman; the world lost an important contributor when he retired from that position.