Report: Energy Secretary Steven Chu Resigns From Post

Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the man behind the Obama administration’s costly green energy “investments,” announced on Friday that he is stepping down, according to breaking reports from POLITICO.

Secretary Chu’s decision to exit the Obama White House puts him in league with a handful of first term appointees who’ve decided they’d rather not stick around for a second term, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Following Secretary Chu’s announcement, President Obama issued the following statement:

I want to thank Secretary Chu for his dedicated service on behalf of the American people.

As a Nobel Prize winning scientist, Steve brought to the Energy Department a unique understanding of both the urgent challenge presented by climate change and the tremendous opportunity that clean energy represents for our economy.  And during his time as Secretary, Steve helped my Administration move America towards real energy independence.

Over the past four years, we have doubled the use of renewable energy, dramatically reduced our dependence on foreign oil, and put our country on a path to win the global race for clean energy jobs.

Thanks to Steve, we also expanded support for our brightest engineers and entrepreneurs as they pursue groundbreaking innovations that could transform our energy future.  I am grateful that Steve agreed to join in my Cabinet and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

“Chu is a former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He drew fire from Republicans who criticized his handling of a $528 million federal loan to solar panel maker Solyndra, which later went bankrupt, laying off its 1,100 workers,” the Associated Press notes.

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