Interesting.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu may be leaving the post during the next term of the Obama administration. Among those on the list to replace Chu are Ritter; Tom Steyer, a Democrat from California; former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan; Susan Tierney, a former assistant energy secretary; and Steve Westley, a California businessman, according to The Washington Post.

More at Hot Air, which notes that Dr. Chu has been distinctly subpar as Secretary of Energy ( the man doesn’t understand either politics or finance, which is not unexpected, but also why we don’t normally pick scientists for these positions). As for a replacement, the answer is obvious: Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. While a Democrat, she’s a strong supporter of both the Keystone pipeline and hydraulic fracking, and frankly what we need now is a Secretary of Energy with some sort of practical background in energy production. At the very least, we need one who might, perhaps, have a better chance to not actually waste the $30B annual budget that we give Energy every year. I think that we’re quite done with having all of these Solyndra-level debacles all of the time, correct?

Also, as a new-minted Senator Heitkamp would also not have the usual confirmation history baggage, either. Lastly, well, she has the advantage of being both female and – as the last election showed – able to connect with conservatives. After all, any Democrat allegedly ready to tell President Obama to his face that he’s wrong on energy policy* deserves serious consideration:all in all the only Democrats who could hate this suggestion would be those too intellectually insecure in their own beliefs to be able to tolerate dissent…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Not to mention calling for the actual replacement of both Dr. Chu and EPA head Lisa Jackson. This is a remarkably sensible, pro-science position for a national Democrat to take; one wonders how Heitkamp will handle it if/when Big Green notices that she’s this offensive to their religious sensibilities…