ACC, NPRA hail appointment of Bodman as US energy czar

10 December 2004 19:12  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--Major US chemical industry groups Friday applauded President George W Bush’s nomination of chemical engineer and financier Sam Bodman as the next US secretary of energy, saying Bush “picked the right man for the job.”

 

American Chemistry Council (ACC) president Tom Reilly said in a statement that with Bodman’s experience in the chemicals industry, finance and government, he “knows the energy industry and has a wealth of experience in finance and manufacturing.”

 

Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), said in a statement that Bodman “brings considerable credentials to the Energy Department from his work in international activities, in science and in the private sector generally.”

 

Bodman completed a 13-year tenure in 2001 as chairman and chief executive at specialty chemicals firm Cabot Corp to serve as deputy secretary at the Department of Commerce (DoC) in the Bush administration. More recently, he was assigned as deputy secretary at the Treasury Department. Earlier in his career, Bodman taught chemical engineering at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and headed a major financial and venture capital firm, Fidelity Investments.

 

ACC’s Reilly said that Bodman’s experience at Commerce and Treasury “gives him a firm understanding of the importance of a balanced energy policy to industries that compete in global markets.”

 

Reilly said Bodman’s nomination to head the Department of Energy (DoE) “comes at a time when the nation’s energy policy is at a crossroads. Congress has failed three times in three years to pass energy legislation, even after oil and natural gas prices soared to record highs and the nation endured a massive power blackout in the summer of 2003.”

 

“Business as usual,” said Reilly, “is eroding our margins and threatening out position as the global leader in chemical manufacturing. It is time for policymakers to face the facts and implement real lasting solutions.”

 

“Sam Bodman knows that an adequate supply of affordable natural gas is critical to this country’s economy, including the chemical industry,” Reilly said. “We look forward to working with him.”

 

NPRA’s Slaughter also said that his group is “committed to working with the new secretary to continue efforts to create a supply-oriented national energy policy that reflects the important contribution the domestic refining and petrochemical industries make to a health economy and the nation’s security.”

 

Earlier today, Bush’s nomination of Bodman to head DoE drew similar praise from specialty chemicals manufacturers.

 

Washington, DC-based NPRA represents some 450 member companies, including most US refiners and petrochemicals manufacturers.

 

The member companies of Arlington, Virginia-based ACC account for some 90% of US basic industrial chemicals manufacturing capacity.

By: Joe Kamalick
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