Washington Water Main, April 18: Commitee Confirms Ernest Moniz’s DOE Secretary Nomination

In a near-unanimous vote Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Ernest Moniz’s nomination to become the next Secretary of the Department of Energy.

Energy Department :: Ernest Moniz, President Barack Obama’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Energy (Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons via Fraunhofer CSE). Click image to enlarge.

The full Senate could vote on Moniz’s nomination as soon as next week, The Hill reported.

With 21 votes for his nomination and only 1 against – from South Carolina Republican Tim Scott — Moniz clearly carries deep bipartisan support into his final confirmation vote.

Moniz, currently the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative, can also count on support from Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). Wyden told President Barack Obama he would “do everything [he could]” to usher through Moniz’s approval at a Senate Democrats dinner Wednesday night, Bloomberg energy reporter Ari Natter reported on Twitter.

Wyden added in a news release that he believes Moniz is “more than up to the challenges” posed by transitioning the United States to a low-carbon energy supply.

The Energy Department is a major funder for research and development into more efficient production and distribution technology. Moniz said in his hearing he would focus on developing a wide range of energy sources, with a particular eye on environmental and water-use efficiency.