>Secretary Chu’s $10 Million Fiasco
Diane Katz March 21, 2012 at 4:38 pm
During a hearing last week of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Wyoming Senator John Barrasso (R) asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu a seemingly simple question: “(D)o you think a $50 light bulb is affordable for American families?”
“No, absolutely not,” Chu replied.
Well, if that’s the case, why did Chu award a $10 million top prize for a $50 light bulb in his department’s competition for an “affordable” light? (FYI: The winner, Philips Lighting N.A., a division of the Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics, was the only contestant.)
Equally ludicrous is the notion that a government contest was necessary to “incentivize” the development of new lighting technologies, as claimed by Chu, who holds a Ph.D. in physics but doesn’t seem to have a clue about household budgets, light bulb manufacturing, or basic principles of economics.
https://blog.heritage.org/2012/03/21/secretary-chus-10-million-fiasco/
