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Old 2008-12-10, 23:26   Link #1
karasuma
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A Nobel Prize Winner (Physics) as Head of Energy

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/...ma_environment

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama intends to round out his environmental and natural resources team with a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and three former Environmental Protection Agency officials from the Clinton administration.

The president-elect has selected Steven Chu for energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator, Carol Browner as his energy "czar" and Nancy Sutley to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

...

================================

I don't know about you. Researchers usually only go for positions which he/she can do something about it. What a great pick. Even better, what a recruiting job. How does Obama recruit a guy like him. Even better, how does he know Chu exists?

Last edited by karasuma; 2008-12-11 at 21:08.
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Old 2008-12-11, 00:01   Link #2
LeoXiao
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Kickass. Do famous scientists usually get put in these positions?
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Old 2008-12-11, 00:05   Link #3
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Originally Posted by LeoXiao View Post
Kickass. Do famous scientists usually get put in these positions?
Hm. No, unless you're talking about the current Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, who was once a research chemist.

In 2007 Angela Merkel was awarded the honorary doctorate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
She was also awarded the honorary doctorate from Leipzig University in June 2008
and University of Technology in Wrocław (Poland) in September 2008.

^^ oh yeah, typos in the title, should be A Nobel Prize Winner (Physics) as Head of Energy
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Old 2008-12-11, 03:43   Link #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karasuma View Post
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/...ma_environment

WASHINGTON ? President-elect Barack Obama intends to round out his environmental and natural resources team with a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and three former Environmental Protection Agency officials from the Clinton administration.

The president-elect has selected Steven Chu for energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator, Carol Browner as his energy "czar" and Nancy Sutley to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

...

================================

I don't know about you. Researchers usually only go for positions which he/she can do something about it. What a great pick. Even better, what a recruiting job. How does Obama recruit a guy like him. Even better, how does he know Chu exists?
From the looks of it... The new US administration will be emphasizing on US-China relations, since president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and now, a Chinese scientist to be part of his Cabinet. Quite unexpected..
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Old 2008-12-11, 03:47   Link #5
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Originally Posted by Shadow Minato View Post
From the looks of it... The new US administration will be emphasizing on US-China relations, since president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and now, a Chinese scientist to be part of his Cabinet. Quite unexpected..
^^ Not surprising as China is the only one that can save US's ass right now from the financial turmoil.
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Old 2008-12-11, 15:23   Link #6
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Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
Hm. No, unless you're talking about the current Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, who was once a research chemist.

[/B]
the term "famous scientist" is lolzinappropriate when applied to Merkel...

i doubt she's anywhere beyond average. my father is a real quantum chemistry researcher, and he is very dismissive about Merkel's presumed "research".
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Old 2008-12-11, 15:44   Link #7
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^^ Not surprising as China is the only one that can save US's ass right now from the financial turmoil.
Is that a joke? If the US is dependent on China for its financial recession, then the US is certainly going backwards. China can barely help themselves..
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Old 2008-12-11, 15:50   Link #8
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I can't decide if this appointment makes sense or not. I guess it depends more on his management portfolio. Being a Nobel prize winner or a brilliant researcher are less important than being able to direct large teams of people effectively (though it is certainly critical to know what your people are talking about).


Quote:
I don't know about you. Researchers usually only go for positions which he/she can do something about it. What a great pick. Even better, what a recruiting job. How does Obama recruit a guy like him. Even better, how does he know Chu exists?
Maybe Obama subscribes to NATURE science journal ....
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Old 2008-12-11, 17:35   Link #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadow Minato View Post
From the looks of it... The new US administration will be emphasizing on US-China relations, since president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and now, a Chinese scientist to be part of his Cabinet. Quite unexpected..
I think first and for most, he is a nobel prize winner. I think the fact that he is Chinese American has little to do with that qualification. Also, this position has very little to do with China. He is a scientist specialized in climate change and that is what we need.. Not to say Chinese American shouldn't be proud of this selection.

Vexx : He is the head of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. So, I think he manages a couple thousand people there. Nonetheless, the further you isolate him from Washington politics, the better he operates I guess.

Last edited by karasuma; 2008-12-12 at 00:05.
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Old 2008-12-11, 17:56   Link #10
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thanks.. yeah, I did a bit of googling on him, he definitely has the "large team leader" credentials.
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Old 2008-12-11, 18:06   Link #11
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as a chinese-american i am insulted by Dr. Chu's appointment to Sec of Energy. We Asian-americans are as good at graft and kickback as any other americans. i demand that dr. chu be appointed to a position where he can grab more of the swill from the public trough.
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Old 2008-12-11, 18:10   Link #12
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I'm sure the oil companies will try to be swabbing his decks ...
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Old 2008-12-11, 18:34   Link #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
^^ oh yeah, typos in the title, should be A Nobel Prize Winner (Physics) as Head of Energy
Fixed. That was bugging me as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadow Minato View Post
From the looks of it... The new US administration will be emphasizing on US-China relations, since president-elect Barack Obama has chosen Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and now, a Chinese scientist to be part of his Cabinet. Quite unexpected..
What does the choice of Stephen Chu have anything to do with US-China relations? Chu was born in St. Louis.

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Originally Posted by Shadow Minato View Post
Is that a joke? If the US is dependent on China for its financial recession, then the US is certainly going backwards. China can barely help themselves..
China is currently the largest source of funds for American deficit spending; including all that bailout money.

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Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
I can't decide if this appointment makes sense or not. I guess it depends more on his management portfolio. Being a Nobel prize winner or a brilliant researcher are less important than being able to direct large teams of people effectively (though it is certainly critical to know what your people are talking about).
Given that Chu is a very prominent voice for alternative fuels and global warming technologies, his name probably came up as someone who could promote Obama's energy agenda, and have a decent idea on how to implement it.

It's awfully rare for a scientist of this calibre to be given a government post of this nature, but it seems to be a very good idea. One hopes that he will be able to break some of the fearmongering when it comes to nuclear energy as well.
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Old 2008-12-11, 21:07   Link #14
karasuma
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Thanks for pointing that out. The typo...

P.S. Can't correct the big title. Just correct the small one.
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Old 2008-12-12, 00:16   Link #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mumitroll View Post
the term "famous scientist" is lolzinappropriate when applied to Merkel...

i doubt she's anywhere beyond average. my father is a real quantum chemistry researcher, and he is very dismissive about Merkel's presumed "research".
Hm, like what?? I thought she was also involved in energy affairs of Germany?

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Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
Maybe Obama subscribes to NATURE science journal ....
You never know, he has a Blackberry and might be subscribing to the ONLINE edition.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xellos-_^ View Post
as a chinese-american i am insulted by Dr. Chu's appointment to Sec of Energy. We Asian-americans are as good at graft and kickback as any other americans. i demand that dr. chu be appointed to a position where he can grab more of the swill from the public trough.
WTF!?
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Old 2008-12-12, 00:20   Link #16
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I don't care about the race of the Nobel Prize winner. I just hope he can use his knowledge to handle America's contribution to global warming.
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Old 2008-12-12, 00:23   Link #17
ZephyrLeanne
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Originally Posted by C.A. View Post
I don't care about the race of the Nobel Prize winner. I just hope he can use his knowledge to handle America's contribution to global warming.
Or reduce energy consumption and stop being the world's biggest polluter. Man, I believe they haven't signed Kyoto yet??
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Old 2008-12-12, 00:27   Link #18
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Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
^^ oh yeah, typos in the title, should be A Nobel
How do you know karasuma doesn't just think that he's a really honorable guy?

P.S. (The Nobel part hasn't been fixed, actually)

Quote:
and stop being the world's biggest polluter
They're the biggest first world country - isn't it kind of....expected for them to be the world's biggest polluter? Then again, their per capita is one of the highest as well. Japan gets by with half as much per capita greenhouse gas emissions, Sweden even less.
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Old 2008-12-12, 14:47   Link #19
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Wait, a scientist is actually getting respect in political circles? Hn, maybe there's something to this "hope" stuff after all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
Or reduce energy consumption and stop being the world's biggest polluter.
I can't find statistics for total pollution, but China passed the US in absolute carbon dioxide production last year (of course, we're still higher per individual). Taking into account that even the US' fairly lax environmental standards seem strict compared to China's and how many companies have moved production to China partly because of those standards, and I think it's reasonable to believe that the US is no longer the world's biggest polluter in absolute terms.

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Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
Man, I believe they haven't signed Kyoto yet??
Gore signed it symbolically back in '98, but Clinton didn't submit it to Congress. Congress had passed a resolution (unanimously) saying that the US shouldn't sign any bill of like the Kyoto Protocol which didn't include binding targets and timetables for developing nations as well. Bush has used pretty much the same excuse.

While I would like the US to sign onto the Kyoto Protocol, for the symbolism if nothing else, isn't the Protocol pretty near to the end of its lifespan? As in, wouldn't it be pretty much impossible for any new signatories to meet the standards in the time left?
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Old 2008-12-12, 17:52   Link #20
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Originally Posted by Xellos-_^ View Post
as a chinese-american i am insulted by Dr. Chu's appointment to Sec of Energy. We Asian-americans are as good at graft and kickback as any other americans. i demand that dr. chu be appointed to a position where he can grab more of the swill from the public trough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShimatheKat View Post
WTF!?
It's kind of an old joke. "Fighting stereotypes" and stuff like that is generally used as a positive description of minorities doing things like going to higher education and getting political positions, but the stereotype for Asian-Americans is that they're hardworking and smart. So for Asian-Americans to be "fighting stereotypes" they'd have to be lazy, stupid or corrupt.
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