The Biden transition team has been hard at work preparing for the first real presidency in 4 years. While there will be a lot of work to do to claw out of the abyss created by the previous 4 years of chaos, mismanagement, and willful ignorance of reality, it’s nevertheless a solvable problem. Finding appropriate leadership for the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds more than 90% of my field (high-energy physics), is of great personal importance to me and a great number of other scientists. The DOE is not only responsible for the nation’s energy portfolio and policy related to it, but also for the sustenance of basic research in the United States and the maintenance of our national laboratory infrastructure. Efforts to restore faith will be desperately needed for other major fundamental science agencies like the National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA, NIH, etc. Qualified and experienced leadership will be essential to a good re-launch of the U.S. Presidency and the restoration of the honor and dignity of the executive branch of government.
It’s being reported that experienced people under consideration by the incoming Biden administration to fill the role of Secretary of Energy, including previous Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
[Ernest] Moniz held the Energy secretary role from 2013 to 2017 and worked to implement what he’s described as an “all of the above” energy strategy that backed both fossil fuels and renewable energy… [Elizabeth] Sherwood-Randall served as the deputy Energy secretary from 2014 to 2017, where she had leadership over the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is responsible for the country’s nuclear weapons and she’s worked to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Frazin, Rachel. “Obama alumni considered top picks for Biden Energy secretary“. The Hill. Nov. 13, 2020.
