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  If I were Obama, I would pick...

  Hi Joe,

  If I were Obama, I would pick James Woolsey, former CIA director under Clinton, to be the new Secretary of Energy (SOE).  OK, so he advised McCain on energy issues, but, that aside, he would be great at presenting oil addiction to the public as a national security issue, which it is.  He's is very much in favor of plug-in hybrids, cellulosic ethanol, and all sorts of very useful changes that need to be made in domestic petroleum/energy consumption.  I think he could really increase public support for what will be unfamiliar policies, like putting a floor on the price of oil, for example.

  From your piece: "replaced in an Obama administration by some sort of national energy council -- and yes, they had better come up with a name that doesn't have the same acronym as the original NEC."

  I would call it the Energy Security Council, akin to the NSC, and I would put a wide range of folks on it.  Amory Lovins, Jeff Immelt (CEO of GE), SOE, the FERC Chairman, Tom Friedman, if he would do it, Andy Karsner (outgoing Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy), and yourself, for starters.  I would have a biweekly ESC meeting, which would talk about several of the universe of topics relating to energy, security, and economy, which are all interconnected.  The meetings would be a bit of a tough slog at the beginning, but after about a year, when our energy transformation is moving in the right direction, they would get easier.  

  rumpole

  On SOS trumps NSA (Hillary Clinton trumps Gen. Jones) posted 12 months ago 3 Responses