Is just business as usual in Washington. What a shame, but of course, it's nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately. These are the moves where it's easy to see that the head of executive branch of the U.S. is not harnessing the power he has (although not as much as most think) to bring about the lasting change necessary to support means for a sustainable, just and peaceful world.
Mr. Moniz is a nuclear physicist best known by environmentalists for his love of fracking (see the attached picture). Have you seen the documentary Gasland yet (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/)? You should educate yourself on the process of fracking and who's most impacted if you're not already well versed. The Gasland documentary does a great job.
While other appointees to the President's cabinent can also come under scrutiny, back to Mr. Moniz, one must wonder if placing him at the head of an agency that's supposed to protect the environment, yet supports nuclear means to achieve energy goals among other polluting means, is conflicting at the core. Nuclear energy creates waste that humans have not yet figured out how to adequately get rid of. The old answer for the U.S. was to impact Indigenous people (big surprise!) by dumping all the waste in Yucca Mountain, a sacred area for the Western Shoshone Nation. While that plan has been stricken down (not on the merits of social justice) there is still no way to deal with the waste never mind that with nuclear energy and waste, proliferation of nuclear weaponry is not too far behind. Is this really the best foot forward Mr. President? Does fracking and the Keystone Pipeline really have anything to do with being energy independent, or more so maintaining the status quo?
Here's some interesting background on the new head of the EPA:
http://grist.org/news/meet-obamas-energy-secretary-pick-ernest-moniz/
