Energy-geek-in-chief Steven Chu will be stepping down as the head of the Department of Energy reports Bloomberg. The announcement will reportedly be made next week.
If true, it’s an end of an era for the Obama administration, and as Mother Jones points out, it’s farewell to Obama’s original Green Dream Team of its first term. Chu was a true scientist leader — he won the Nobel Prize in Physics — and he supported open collaboration in science, and had a nerdy sense of humor.
At the same time Chu was criticized, and grilled, by House Republicans during the Solyndra hearings. And clearly not all the large loan guarantee bets made on clean energy companies through the stimulus package were home runs. He also didn’t always know how to play the politics of Washington D.C.
Regardless, Chu will be sorely missed by many in the cleantech sector, and clean power advocates. Here’s photos of Chu that we took over the years:
Solyndra’s ground breaking ceremony in 2009
Solyndra’s ground breaking ceremony in 2009
Steven Chu, Harry Reid
Steven Chu giving an interview in the hallways at ARPA-E
Chu & Brown on the solar factory tour
Steven Chu speaking at COP 15 in Copenhagen
Testifying before House Republicans
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