Bush Picks Treasury Official as New Energy Secretary

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, December 13, 2004 (ENS) - President George W. Bush on Friday nominated Treasury Deputy Secretary Samuel Bodman to take charge of the U.S. Department of Energy.

A chemical engineer by training, Bodman has little experience with energy issues and his nomination came as a surprise to industry insiders, who nonetheless praised the President's choice.

Bush touted Bodman as "a problem solver who knows how to set goals and knows how to reach them."

Bodman established himself as a loyal member of the administration during the President's first term, serving first as deputy secretary of the Commerce Department before moving to Treasury last February.

Outgoing Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, one of Bush's closest friends, recommended his former deputy secretary for the post of energy secretary.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bodman would replace Spencer Abraham, who resigned last month after four years in charge of the Department of Energy (DOE).

Industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Petroleum Institute and the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, all weighed in with support for Bodman's nomination.

President Bush was joined in the White House Friday by Samuel Bodman, his nominee to run the U.S. Energy Department. (Photo courtesy White House)

Overseeing the massive federal agency is no small task - the department has an annual budget of some $24 billion and more than 110,000 employees and contractors.

Its roles are varied and complex, including oversight of federal energy research and 17 energy laboratories as well as responsibility for nuclear nonproliferation efforts, clean up of nuclear weapon sites and the storage of nuclear waste.

Bodman's resume lacks energy experience, but the 66 year old Chicago native told reporters the job of energy secretary "in many ways combines all aspects of my life's professional work."

"I started as a teacher in chemical engineering at MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], spent 17 years helping create and manage Fidelity Investments, and then spent 14 years managing Cabot Corporation, a globally deployed chemical company," Bodman said. "Each of these activities dealt with the financial markets and the impact of energy and technology on those markets."

Bodman said he is keen to promote President Bush's energy policy and "to work toward the day when America achieves energy independence."

Chief among Bodman's tasks will be resurrecting support for legislation that advances the Bush energy agenda, which includes increased subsidies for oil, natural gas and nuclear energy.

President George W. Bush nominated Samuel Wright Bodman to be the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury on December 9, 2003, and the United States Senate unanimously confirmed him on February 12, 2004. Bodman previously served as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce, beginning in 2001. (Photo courtesy U.S. Climate Change Science Program)

Disagreement between members of Congress over a safe harbor provision protecting manufacturers of the gasoline additive MTBE [methyl tertiary-butyl ether] from litigation has also hampered passage of the bill. The chemical, added in urban areas that fail to meet federal Clean Air standards, can leak into water supplies, contaminating them with a foul taste and odor.

The last version of the bill failed by only two votes - it contained some $24 billion in tax breaks, with more than two thirds earmarked for coal, oil, gas and nuclear industries.

Critics say the measure undermines environmental protections, does not address fuel economy standards or greenhouse gas emissions, and contains too many corporate giveaways.

The administration is expected to push strongly for the legislation in the upcoming Congressional session and Bush on Friday reiterated his support for developing more domestic sources of energy, including, but not limited to, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "During the next four years, we will continue to enhance our economic security and our national security through sound energy policy," Bush said. "We will pursue more energy close to home, in our own country and in our own hemisphere, so that we are less dependent on energy from unstable parts of the world."

Another key challenge Bodman will face is how to get the administration's plan to bury much of the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada back on track.

The Yucca Mountain nuclear repository project faces a slew of safety, security and budget concerns - in addition to several lawsuits - that all threaten to remove any chance the facility will be ready by 2010.

Sustained delay to or failure to proceed with the Yucca Mountain project would force state governments to deal with the waste, but the federal government would be forced to foot a bill estimated at some $56 billion.

New Mexico Republican Senator Pete Domenici, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Bodman is well suited to lead the department.

"His management experience will be a boon to the department," Domenici said. "His financial expertise will be a tremendous asset in accurately assessing the economic impact of energy policy and crafting that policy in an environment of fiscal restraint."

Bodman's nomination nearly completes the overhaul of the Bush cabinet - only two spots remained unfilled.

Nine of the 15 members of the administration's cabinet have opted out of the President's second term.

Bush has yet to name a replacement for Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and also must chose a new nominee to take over the Department of Homeland Security.

Bernard Kerik, the President's choice to replace Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, withdrew his name from contention late Friday.

Kerik, former New York City police commissioner, apparently failed to tell the White House of his employment of an illegal immigrant and of an outstanding warrant issued in 1998 by a New Jersey judge for a civil dispute.