Obama’s Pragmatic Pick for Energy Secretary

MIT’s Moniz wants action on climate change, but can also work with the fossil fuel industry.

Ernest Moniz, President Obama’s pick to replace Steven Chu as secretary, is a pragmatic choice. An MIT professor of physics and engineering systems and the head of the MIT Energy Initiative, Moniz believes climate change is a problem and he has the support of the Environmental Defense Fund. Yet he can work closely with the fossil fuel industry—MITEI’s founding members are major oil and gas companies—BP, Shell, Eni, and Saudi Aramco. And Moniz is no stranger to Washington, having served as associate director for science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.