New Energy Department?

NPR's Morning Edition today discussed possible changes at the Energy Department under the new Secretary of Energy, physicist Steven Chu (see photo), who has his confirmation hearing before the Senate today.
NPR correspondent Christopher Joyce examines whether the Department may move some budget resources away from the traditional role of safeguarding the national's nuclear arsenal, in favor of clean energy.
"Chu also has been a critic of coal, the nation's largest source of greenhouse gases as well as the major fuel source for making electricity. He says putting a price on carbon to make fossil fuels more expensive is high on his to-do list," Joyce reports.

Listen to the program here.

Update: Chu apparently did a good job in the hearings, according to the Los Angeles Times.

- David Adams, Times staff writer.