Science Wars

Energy Secretary's Lonely Battle

Stephen Chu struck by politics of climate change.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu won a Nobel Prize in physics, but even he may be wondering if he has the smarts to win the political war around climate change. He tells the Financial Times in an interview that the situation is getting dire not just for the environment but for business, which doesn't know which way legislation may go this year. “We’re in a crazy never-never land situation,” Chu said. But he remains optimistic that major energy and cap-and-trade legislation will be passed. “I’m here because I think we can do this," he told the paper. President Obama is making a new push this week, authorizing $8.3 in loans to build two nuclear reactors—the first of their kind to be constructed in the U.S. in 30 years.