Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
12/19/2014
In a last minute wave of confirmations this week, the Senate confirmed Christopher Smith as the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy. Smith, who had held the title of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, was nominated to fill the Assistant Secretary position in September 2013. He had served as acting Assistant Secretary since February 2013 following the resignation of former FE Assistant Secretary Chuck McConnell. He was renominated in January 2014 because his initial nomination was not confirmed by the Senate by the close of 2013.
Prior to serving in his current capacity, Smith had served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oil and Natural Gas since 2009. “Chris Smith’s depth of expertise and experience in the fossil energy field make him extremely well qualified for this position. I am confident that he will continue to serve the Department, President Obama and the nation with the same dedication he has shown over the past five years,” Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a release. “I thank the Senate for their action to approve Chris’s nomination, and I look forward to continuing my work with him, to ensure the U.S. can continue to rely on clean, affordable energy from our nation’s fossil fuel resources.”
Senate Fails to Take Action on Some DOE, EPA Nominees
While Smith’s confirmation made it through before the bell, several nominations remain unconfirmed within DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency. Having not received confirmation by the end of the year, these nominees will have to be renominated in 2015 at which time they will face a Republican Senate. Unconfirmed nominations in the DOE include Marc Kastner to be Director of the Office of Science and Jonathan Elkind to be Assistant Secretary of Energy in the office of International Affairs. Those EPA nominees the Senate did not take action on include Janet McCabe to be Assistant Administrator of Air and Radiation, Tom Burke to be Assistant Administrator for the Office and Research and Development, Ann Elizabeth Dunkin to be Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information, Jane Nishida to be Assistant Administrator for International Affairs and Victoria Wassmer to be Chief Financial Officer.
