Finally, some change we can believe in. Steven Chu amends his thoughts on the benefits of high gas prices (although the New York Times calls it a “slight” change, I think it’s a bit more than that):
Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate scientist who is President-elect Obama’s choice to be energy secretary, said in testimony prepared for his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that high oil prices were a threat to the economy, backing away slightly from statements made in his last job, as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, that gasoline prices should be higher.
Mr. Chu, who was expected to get a friendly and brief review by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said in prepared testimony that “last year’s rapid spike in oil and gasoline prices not only contributed to the recession we are now experiencing, it also put a huge strain on the budgets of families all across America.” He called for a “greater, more committed push towards energy independence, and with it a more secure energy system.’’
He had told the Wall Street Journal last September, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” a statement likely to give some commuters a case of road rage.
Even with the price of gasoline falling as much as it has, the price of gallon of gas in Europe is about $6. How’s that sound, America?