Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy: The U.S. and China both recognize the need to move aggressively on reducing carbon emissions and developing clean energy sources. Event: U.S.-China Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation http://bit.ly/eIUb8D

The video is from the end of January, 2011, at the Brookings Institute.  Middle Eastern unrest around the world is making people who think about energy more concerned than usual and Chu appears to be rolling out a renewed push for renewable energy, in part based on the progress China is making. Notice that Steven Chu never mentions peak oil?  See the peak oil review here.  (Everything I’m reading about oil prices on mainstream websites quotes someone who says our oil reserves are plentiful, the problem with price is political.  Not true.)

Unlike the US, China has a Renewable Energy Standard, a goal for a percentage of power to be produced by solar, wind, and other renewable energy.

” Politico: For all the uncertainty surrounding events in Egypt, at least one thing is clear: Political unrest in a Middle Eastern country will inevitably lead to a new fight over oil in Washington.

Protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have already caused a fresh uptick in global crude oil prices, and politicians are ready to pounce with new hearings and old talking points.

Steven Chu recently warned that unrest in oil countries might affect our oil supply and he told reporters at the end of January that we need to diversify our energy supply.  Yet, he talks openly about our climate goals, as you can hear in the video above.

What happens when oil regimes around the world begin to fall, as seems to be happening? There are/were uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and reportedly in Yemen, Jordan and maybe other countries. If the U.S. supply of oil is cut off, as may actually happen if things deteriorate, do our leaders lead us into more war, or give up and turn to renewables and a better future?

We need to move to renewables even faster than orginally planned, but my guess is that politicians will decide they need move on to drilling in other areas, like the Arctic.  Our next political battles may be with China and Russia, over who gets to drill in deep water the most in the Arctic Sea, now that the sea ice is disappearing. That would be the worst thing I can imaging happening, because it will greatly add to global warming, but it’s already happening to some extent.  Steven Chu seems to be warning us against this outcome.  You can bet BP and Exxon are already making plans for this drilling, as are oil companies in Russia and China.

At the very least, the unrest around the world (not just in Egypt) will make oil and gas lots more expensive, but that’s happening anyway. Chu’s ultimate plan involves a big push, thanks to the billionaire T. Boone Pickens, to turn every car and truck in the U.S. into a natural [...]