The Epoch Times, August 2021
A nominee to the Department of Energy wants U.S. policy to incorporate anti-racism and to move beyond notions of private property. Shalanda Baker, a law professor currently on a professional leave of absence from Northeastern University to serve in the Biden administration, is already secretarial adviser on equity and deputy director for energy justice in the Department of Energy. The deputy director role is newly created by the Biden administration.
Baker has been nominated to lead the DOE’s Office of Minority Economic Impact (OMEI). After initially considering her nomination at a hearing on June 8, the committee on July 22 confirmed her nomination, advancing her nomination to the full Senate.
Baker’s writings on energy include “Revolutionary Power,” described as “an activist’s guide to the energy transition.” In it, Baker advocates what she calls a “justice first” approach to climate change, “rather than one of climate first, justice later.”
In a 2020 article for a Boston public radio station, “How To Create Anti-Racist Energy Policies,” Baker stated, “The time for reckoning with the racialized violence embedded within the current energy system is long overdue.” She argues that energy costs per household should be permanently capped at 6 percent of overall household income.
