John McArdle, E&E reporter
Published: Friday, May 11, 2012
When it comes to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, there are plenty of reasons why playing "Veepstakes" is so much less exciting than the Cabinet secretary guessing game.
Here's one:
If Romney wins in November, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) suddenly becomes a prime potential pick for either Energy secretary or Interior secretary. And if Murkowski were to join the new administration and vacate her Senate seat, a special election would be required to replace her -- possibly paving the way for Sen. Sarah Palin.
Such are the delightfully endless possibilities that the Cabinet game allows, especially when it's played this early in an election cycle and so much has yet to be decided.
This week, E&E Daily surveyed industry officials, academics, politicians and Capitol Hill insiders to come up with a very early and very unofficial shortlist of individuals who could be in line for Energy secretary in a potential Romney administration.
The dozen individuals who made the list tended to fall into three categories: current elected officials, political appointees from either the George W. Bush or George H.W. Bush administration, or successful business executives.
American Enterprise Institute fellow and energy expert Kenneth Green said Romney would likely be looking for a unique mixture of traits in his pick.
Along with having a deep knowledge of energy issues, strong executive skills to manage the massive agency and the political skills to navigate a confirmation hearing, Green said, any potential Energy secretary would also have to be on board with a Romney energy policy agenda that emphasizes markets over mandates.
"The Romney energy platform heavily invokes energy markets as the best way to produce the kind of energy Americans want at the price they want to pay with the characteristics they want it to have," said Green, whose energy work is so widely respected in conservative circles that his name has occasionally been mentioned for the job.
Among the most recognizable names mentioned are Murkowski and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
But if Republicans hold the House, as expected, and take the Senate, which is less assured but still possible, both Murkowski and Upton might be more inclined to stay on Capitol Hill and push their energy agendas from powerful committee chairmanships.
When asked this week about the possibility of an Energy secretary job, Upton laughed.
"I'm happy where I is," he said. "Very happy."
As for Murkowski, her expertise on drilling and permitting issues may make her a more natural choice for the Interior post -- which controls the public lands where energy production takes place -- as opposed to the Energy job, which deals more with nuclear issues and the government's research portfolio.
Other political figures whose names were mentioned this week for DOE were Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R).
While acknowledging Jindal's experience on energy issues, one energy insider questioned whether the 40-year-old governor, who is generally assumed to have national ambitions, would be interested in running DOE. As one insider pointed out, the Cabinet post does provide a bully pulpit, but it's not necessarily seen as a steppingstone to further one's political career. More often, it's a post that is taken at or near the end of one's political life.
Experience counts
Along with being a known quantity, current and former appointed officials come with the added benefit of already having been vetted, thus usually making them a safer choice.
One such potential nominee might be Pete Lyons, DOE's current assistant secretary for nuclear energy, who was appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the George W. Bush administration. Before heading to the NRC, Lyons worked in Congress as a science adviser for then-Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Another possibility is Karen Harbert, a former DOE assistant secretary for policy and international affairs who is now CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy.
During her time at DOE, Harbert worked under former DOE Undersecretary Clarence "Bud" Albright, who was mentioned as a viable choice by multiple people on and off the Hill this week.
Albright is a Romney ally who now handles government affairs for Texas-based CenterPoint Energy. He's also a former House Energy and Commerce Committee staffer who is regarded as having the political chops to navigate Washington.
"I'm not out there looking for anything," Albright said in an interview this week. "But anybody who would tell you they wouldn't be honored to serve in a Cabinet position is either crazy or lying."
Albright said whoever is selected for the DOE post has to be willing to embrace change, cut waste and get the private sector more involved in funding decisions and project funding.
"There's so much duplication, so much that's done the way it's done today because that's the way it was done yesterday," he said. "I think with Governor Romney's business background, he would understand the need to make businesslike changes at a place like DOE."
From the first Bush administration, former Deputy Energy Secretary Linda Stuntz is still highly regarded for her work on energy policy. During her time at DOE, she played a major role in the development of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. After leaving public service, Stuntz founded the Washington, D.C., law firm Stuntz, Davis & Staffier, and she continues to specialize in energy and environmental regulation. Stuntz also serves on the boards of directors of Raytheon Co. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), a senior member and former chairman of Energy and Commerce, praised Stuntz as someone who "touches all the bases" in what a president might want in an Energy secretary.
But Barton also said he suspects Romney will be inclined to select a "private-sector CEO type."
"That has been his advantage in the campaign, his connections to business leadership," he said.
One possibility in that category might be Dominion CEO Thomas Farrell, who has donated heavily to Romney and serves as one of the campaign's "Industry Finance Chairs."
Real-world smarts vs. academic smarts
Mostly absent from the speculation this week was any mention of another Energy secretary from academia in the mold of current Secretary Steven Chu. Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who, before joining Obama's Cabinet, taught physics and molecular biology at the University of California while running one of DOE's national labs.
But while Chu's intelligence has never been questioned, Republicans have found plenty to criticize when it comes to his business sense and managerial skills, especially in the wake of the Solyndra scandal. Republicans have said Chu's use of a controversial loan guarantee program to try to create jobs and "pick winners and losers" demonstrates how ill-prepared he was to operate outside a lab setting.
"Chu is an example of the smartest man to have the job but, by any measure, not the best person to have the job," said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who has been highly critical of DOE's energy investment decisions and held several hearings to grill the secretary and his top officials.
"An academic, no matter how smart, is probably not the best pick by Romney," Issa said. "You want someone with a wide knowledge of business and formation of capital."
One man who would certainly fit that bill is oil billionaire Harold Hamm, who Romney appointed earlier this year to lead his energy policy advisory group.
Hamm is the founder and chairman of Continental Resources, which has become a major player in the oil and gas boom in the United States.
"You would have to think Hamm, if he wanted to, he would have the kind of stature and status to make him a potential candidate," one industry source said. "I think it will certainly be someone who has a relationship with the traditional energy sector. I'm not saying it's going to be anyone who is opposed to renewables, but virtually all the energy that is used in the United States is from fossil fuels."
AEI's Green added that anyone from the industry sector would likely run into questions during his or her confirmation hearing about potential conflicts of interest. But he also said a shale gas expert would be well qualified to help Romney navigate what appears to be the future of energy policy.
"It very much looks as if shale gas could be the kind of revolutionary transition that makes a lot of the previous things we've thought about obsolete," Green said. "Someone who's well versed in the shale gas boom would probably be where I'd start looking."