This Federal Agency Is Officially Triggered By the Trump Transition

Uncle Siggy

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Well, well, well, Christmas has come and it looks like someone’s stocking has been filled with lumps of coal, switches, and pink slips.

The transition team has asked the agency to list employees and contractors who attended United Nations climate meetings, along with those who helped develop the Obama administration’s social cost of carbon metrics, used to estimate and justify the climate benefits of new rules. The advisers are also seeking information on agency loan programs, research activities and the basis for its statistics, according to a five-page internal document circulated by the Energy Department on Wednesday. The document lays out 65 questions from the Trump transition team, sources within the agency said.

Two Energy Department employees who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the questionnaire and said agency staff were unsettled by the Trump team’s information request.

The questions about the social cost of carbon dovetail with similar, so-far-unsuccessful requests from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have also sought information about the analysis underpinning that policy and the people who helped develop it.

In the transition document, Trump advisers ask for “a full accounting” of DOE liabilities associated with DOE’s Loan Program Office, criticized by Republican leaders over its part in bankrolling Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer that went bankrupt and left taxpayers on the hook for $535 million in federal guarantees. The documents seeks lists of outstanding loans, their terms and objectives, and the parties responsible for repaying them.

Rest of the article is at the link: This Federal Agency Is Officially Triggered By the Trump Transition | RedState
 

brinny

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Well, well, well, Christmas has come and it looks like someone’s stocking has been filled with lumps of coal, switches, and pink slips.

The transition team has asked the agency to list employees and contractors who attended United Nations climate meetings, along with those who helped develop the Obama administration’s social cost of carbon metrics, used to estimate and justify the climate benefits of new rules. The advisers are also seeking information on agency loan programs, research activities and the basis for its statistics, according to a five-page internal document circulated by the Energy Department on Wednesday. The document lays out 65 questions from the Trump transition team, sources within the agency said.

Two Energy Department employees who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the questionnaire and said agency staff were unsettled by the Trump team’s information request.

The questions about the social cost of carbon dovetail with similar, so-far-unsuccessful requests from Republicans on Capitol Hill, who have also sought information about the analysis underpinning that policy and the people who helped develop it.

In the transition document, Trump advisers ask for “a full accounting” of DOE liabilities associated with DOE’s Loan Program Office, criticized by Republican leaders over its part in bankrolling Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer that went bankrupt and left taxpayers on the hook for $535 million in federal guarantees. The documents seeks lists of outstanding loans, their terms and objectives, and the parties responsible for repaying them.

Rest of the article is at the link: This Federal Agency Is Officially Triggered By the Trump Transition | RedState

Most interesting.

Thank you for posting this.
 
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Uncle Siggy

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Couldn't happen to a better agency.

Live by political agenda ... die by political agenda.

More poetic justice, wouldn't hurt my feelings if the IRS and Dept of Education met the same fate...
 
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aachen_hexagon

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Couldn't happen to a better agency.

Do you have any idea whatsoever what the DoE does? Just curious.

Do you know where most of our energy comes from?

Live by political agenda ... die by political agenda.

And what better way to attack science one doesn't like than to start a McCarthy Campaign to ferrett out dissenters?
 
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NightHawkeye

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Do you have any idea whatsoever what the DoE does? Just curious.
According to Wikipedia ... it's responsible for the Human Genome Project. :doh:
United States Department of Energy - Wikipedia

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative. DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories.​

Do you know where most of our energy comes from?
Private companies.

Is that a problem?
And what better way to attack science one doesn't like than to start a McCarthy Campaign to ferrett out dissenters?
Why is everyone getting upset that a few questions were asked? Some of the other presidential candidates publicly announced that they would immediately dismantle the Department of Energy.

Who thinks restructuring is a big surprise?
 
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aachen_hexagon

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According to Wikipedia ... it's responsible for the Human Genome Project. :doh:

If that's all you know about it I feel sad for you.

Private companies.

LOL!

Is that a problem?

I'm assuming you understand the implications of "natural monopolies".

Why is everyone getting upset that a few questions were asked?

Because Trump loudly proclaimed to his uneducated base voters that he was going to try to attack and deny science he knows nothing about. He told his followers that he would deny science on their behalf.

So, of course, when scientists are being "investigated" for their work it looks like a bad thing.

Some of the other presidential candidates publicly announced that they would immediately dismantle the Department of Energy.

Yes, and they were equally stupid.
 
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aachen_hexagon

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It's basically a purge. We're going to be so alone on the world stage when it comes to science. It's beyond frightening. :sigh:

That is what it sounds like at least in the starting stages. Who knows, though, perhaps Trump was lying about his promise to gut climate change rules as well?

We already look like utter fools on the international stage when it comes to climate change. We look like spoiled brats. We make up 5% of the earth's population yet we use something like 25% of the earth's petroleum. We look bloated and stupid and trying desperately to justify our excesses.
 
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NightHawkeye

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Why do you think the DOE lives by a political agenda?
Call it what you will.

The fact that the Department of Energy funded the massive human genome project, an effort quite far removed from energy, is evidence enough that the DOE is being used as a funding vehicle for favored political projects.
 
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aachen_hexagon

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Call it what you will.

The fact that the Department of Energy funded the massive human genome project, an effort quite far removed from energy, is evidence enough that the DOE is being used as a funding vehicle for favored political projects.

Do you bother to ever check anything out?

Here:

"The DOE’s interest in the human genome grew out of efforts to study DNA changes in atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan." (The Human Genome Project (1990-2003) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia)
 
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NightHawkeye

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Do you bother to ever check anything out?
All the time, actually. :)

Did you notice that I never said studying the human genome wasn't a worthwhile endeavor?
"The DOE’s interest in the human genome grew out of efforts to study DNA changes in atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan." (The Human Genome Project (1990-2003) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia)
Which has what to do with DOE's mandate ... mission ... or reason for existence? :scratch:
 
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wing2000

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Call it what you will.

The fact that the Department of Energy funded the massive human genome project, an effort quite far removed from energy, is evidence enough that the DOE is being used as a funding vehicle for favored political projects.

All the time, actually. :)

Did you notice that I never said studying the human genome wasn't a worthwhile endeavor?

Which has what to do with DOE's mandate ... mission ... or reason for existence? :scratch:

You didn't question the agency's mandate. You questioned their political agenda. Is funding the human genome project a political agenda?
 
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NightHawkeye

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Okay.
Back to my original question.

Why do you think the DOE lives by a political agenda?
Could it be the long list of political appointees in the agency?

List of positions filled by presidential appointment with Senate confirmation - Wikipedia

Department of Energy
Secretary
Deputy Secretary
Under Secretary for Energy and Environment
Under Secretary for Science
Under Secretary for Nuclear Security
Administrator – Energy Information Administration
Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs
Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability – runs the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – runs the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management – runs the Office of Environmental Management
Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy – runs the Office of Fossil Energy
Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Domestic Policy
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy – runs the Office of Nuclear Energy
Chief Financial Officer
Director – Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
Director – Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
Director – Office of Economic Impact and Diversity
Director – Office of Science
General Counsel
Inspector General
5 Commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (political balance required; five-year terms of office)

Note that the appointment of commissioners is the only function required to maintain some political balance.
 
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Belk

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Call it what you will.

The fact that the Department of Energy funded the massive human genome project, an effort quite far removed from energy, is evidence enough that the DOE is being used as a funding vehicle for favored political projects.


So a single instance is all the evidence required? Pretty low bar you have set there.
 
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