If it weren't serious, it would seem to be a joke. One could laugh. Here is a person nominated to lead a section of government, a department, that this person wanted to eliminate from from being a part of the government. When this person was running for the office of president and was promoting his own ideas of how government would function under his leadership, he stated clearly that he would remove the energy department, except his statement was not clear because under the pressure of debating his opponents, he couldn't remember to which department he was making reference.
Watching the video of his inability to remember a major point of his debate causes one to realize why his presidential candidacy didn't move forward. Apparently the name of the department was also not in his notes. Here is a man who was completely unprepared for a televised debate leading to the White House.
Watching the video of his inability to remember a major point of his debate causes one to realize why his presidential candidacy didn't move forward. Apparently the name of the department was also not in his notes. Here is a man who was completely unprepared for a televised debate leading to the White House.
And now, we are to believe that he will do a quick study and come up to speed regarding nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. This will be the guy in charge?
This is not a man who is conversant with the facts. During the election campaign, he appealed to New Hampshire students who would be 21 years old by election day and was unaware that 18 year olds would also be voting... duh !!!
He doesn't know which century we fought our American Revolutionary War against the British Empire.
Here is a man who is all over the place, who considered removing his state, Texas, from the United States of America. What next???
The truth is that he doesn't know a lot of things and does not appear capable of learning quickly.
And, he's to be in charge of our national nuclear policies... that's scary, and that's the truth !!!
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Rick Perry Is the Wrong Choice for Energy Secretary
from the New York Times by Lawrence M. Krauss Much has been made of the irony of Rick Perry’s nomination to be the next secretary of energy. He would oversee a department that he wanted to eliminate as a Republican presidential candidate in the 2012 primaries, though he couldn’t remember its name during a debate. But there are much more serious reasons to be concerned about this nomination. In terms of qualifications, Mr. Perry, a former governor of Texas, doesn’t come close to his immediate predecessors. He would follow President Obama’s two energy secretaries: first, Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate physicist, and then Ernest J. Moniz, a distinguished nuclear physicist from M.I.T. There are reasons the appointment of scientists to this position was and is particularly appropriate, especially now. While investment in new sources of energy (a subject on which both Mr. Chu and Mr. Moniz are experts) is a part of the energy secretary’s portfolio, by far the largest part of the department’s budget involves the stewardship of nuclear weapons, and research and development associated with the nuclear weapons complex. Moreover, the Department of Energy is the chief source of support for research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing far more money than the National Science Foundation, and supporting, among other things, fundamental inquiry in areas ranging from particle physics to cosmology. Presumably Governor Perry wanted to do away with the Energy Department because he perceived it as the source of unwanted regulation in the energy sector, and also because he felt that private enterprise was sufficient to meet the nation’s needs in that area. Whether that view is valid, the energy secretary should be someone who is at least familiar with the strategic issues associated with both nuclear power and nuclear weapons, and ideally someone who is capable of digging down into the complex issues facing the United States in these areas. The next energy secretary should also have at least a modicum of policy experience with some of the vast array of fundamental science supported by the agency. |
Rick Perry Uniquely Unqualified to Lead Department of Energy
from Common Dreams by Friends of the Earth WASHINGTON - Today the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee is holding its hearing on Donald Trump’s nominee for the Department of Energy, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Friends of the Earth Senior Political Strategist Ben Schreiber issued the following response: Perry is uniquely unqualified to run the Department of Energy. Perry had no idea that the DOE’s main responsibility was overseeing the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal when he accepted the job. The only conclusion we can draw is that Trump also had no idea what the Department of Energy really does. The Senate needs to perform its important oversight function and reject Perry instead of simply enabling Trump to undermine the pillars of our country. Republicans are showing that they are committed to cracking down on ethics oversight, not on ethical violations. Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.  |
One need look back only to the complex negotiations surrounding the Iran nuclear deal, and remember Secretary Moniz huddling with Secretary of State John Kerry, and engaged in long meetings with his Iranian counterpart, another nuclear physicist, to appreciate how important it was to have someone there who actually knew what was required to produce viable nuclear weapons from nuclear reactor products, and what was required to ensure that treaty violations could be detected.
I met Governor Perry once, at the World Economic Forum. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. After finding out I was a physicist, he singled me out in the audience while he was onstage, saying, “As Professor Krauss knows, you can violate the laws of physics, but only for a while.” My answer was, “Well, actually you can’t,” which was followed by a bit of nervous laughter from the crowd. That exchange came to mind this morning when I learned of his nomination.
Governor Perry may be a nice guy, and his free market instincts may mesh well with those of President-elect Donald J. Trump, but he has not demonstrated that he is the person for this job.
In the present climate, when nuclear tensions are higher than they have been since the height of the Cold War, when the Iran deal is under attack and proliferation in unstable countries like Pakistan and North Korea will affect plans for our own arsenal, we need someone who is better prepared to handle the challenges. This is also the case as the government makes decisions about supporting research that will affect the future of fundamental inquiry for much of this century.
Maybe not a rocket scientist, but not someone who likes to think that the laws of physics can be played with at will.
Lawrence M. Krauss is director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, chairman of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and author of the forthcoming “The Greatest Story Ever Told — So Far: Why Are We Here?”
I met Governor Perry once, at the World Economic Forum. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. After finding out I was a physicist, he singled me out in the audience while he was onstage, saying, “As Professor Krauss knows, you can violate the laws of physics, but only for a while.” My answer was, “Well, actually you can’t,” which was followed by a bit of nervous laughter from the crowd. That exchange came to mind this morning when I learned of his nomination.
Governor Perry may be a nice guy, and his free market instincts may mesh well with those of President-elect Donald J. Trump, but he has not demonstrated that he is the person for this job.
In the present climate, when nuclear tensions are higher than they have been since the height of the Cold War, when the Iran deal is under attack and proliferation in unstable countries like Pakistan and North Korea will affect plans for our own arsenal, we need someone who is better prepared to handle the challenges. This is also the case as the government makes decisions about supporting research that will affect the future of fundamental inquiry for much of this century.
Maybe not a rocket scientist, but not someone who likes to think that the laws of physics can be played with at will.
Lawrence M. Krauss is director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, chairman of the board of sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and author of the forthcoming “The Greatest Story Ever Told — So Far: Why Are We Here?”
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