Politico.com listed Shah as a contender for Secretary of Energy in the new administration:
Here’s a look at the five best jobs left to be doled out by Obama…. Secretary of EnergyThe list: Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; Dan Reicher, ex-Clinton renewable energy chief, now at Google; Sonal Shah, who heads Google.org’s global development efforts; Obama advisor Jason Grumet; John Bryson, retired chair at Edison International and hybrid car advocate; former Indiana Rep. Philip Sharp, Resources for the Future think tank.
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p>It is not clear to me where this list comes from – whether these are a list of candidates that they know are under consideration or whether they are people that Politico thinks would be good for the job.
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p>Sonal has a solid background in energy. She was a VP at Goldman Sachs, focusing on Green issues before she went over to Google.org:
Sonal worked on green initiatives, including advising clients and bankers on alternative energy opportunities and how to implement environmental, social and governance criteria for all investments. [wiki]
Sonal’s job was to make sure that green was … well, green, i.e. profitable. In this period, Goldman came up with a plan to reduce its emissions by 12% by 2007 and invest $1 billion in alternative energy. This dovetails nicely with Obama’s emphasis on alternative energy as one of his top priorities:
Obama has made the greening of America in all forms – reducing dependence on foreign oil, boosting solar and wind power, increasing auto fuel efficiency, and using green technology to drive the economic recovery – a central part of his pitch for the White House, and the person in this job could ride herd on those activities. [Politico]
The question is, could Sonal pass confirmation for such a high profile post? This is a post which would involve diplomacy with India, so her ties to the VHPA and other Sangh organizations would definitely become an issue.
UPDATE: As Homer Singhson points out, the NYT has Nobel Prizewinner Steven Chu as the front runner for the Energy Secretary position. Even so, this is the first time, to the best of my knowledge, that a desi-American has even been mentioned for a cabinet position.
This is only an issue for extremists on both left and right (like Rick Santorum). But President Obama is going to be a centrist and he has shown already that he is going to appoint people based on their ability and not ideology (he said it today on Meet The Press, again). Thank god Obama is a thoughtful person and also politically savvy enough to be not bullied by extremists.
This is a sad development. Project ‘Saffron Dollar’ has failed. Frodo has failed.
RC – I think that’s pretty naive in terms of the way confirmation processes work. Also, if you look at the amount of information Obama’s team demands from all political appointees, it’s pretty clear that they’re trying to sidestep drama. Sonal would be challenging from this perspective.
That’s strange– I was just at another blog with some connections to her supporters suggesting that she may be “trying to rally the troops” due to the extra labour that her controversial Sangh connections are generating for the Transition Team, and may be considering resignation.
@RC: Obama may be savvy not to be bullied, but Sangh Parivar supporters in the US and UK do not come across as extremists– they are successful business people and community leaders in many cases. The Asian American Hotel Owners Association invited Narendra Modi as a key guest to its Convention in 2005, for instance.
3 · Ennis said
well, i hope she is dropped, if at least for craven political reasons. you are not on the leadership board of the vhp-a, which definitively claims to further the arms of the vhp, without knowing the goals and actions of the vhp.
See next post. I wanted to do both topics justice, not bury one in the other.
Ennis, I agree that the confirmation process MAY become an issue. Especially since the Republicans might be looking to throw anything that can stick and try to paint Obama in a certain way to score political points. But that would be a sad day for America, where extremists win and it would be like the Bush administration all over but on the other side of political spectrum. It would be a sad day in America, if a clearly centrist policy driven President has to get “approvals” from extreme left wing of his party. Just my opinion !!!
This does not mean people who associate with fundamentalists and religious radicals. It refers to political ideology and party affiliation.
opposing the vhp leadership has become extreme left wing now?
As Secretary of Energy she’s gonna have to take a tough stance against importing middle eastern oil anyway.
LOL at those jealous left wing nuts who can’t stand the fact that a proud HINDU WOMAN has come so far and has acheived so much without having to convert to christianity (like that coconut Jindall) or having to become one of those self hating ‘Hindus’. She is proud of her religion, culture and roots and she is a shining example to the Indian Hindus living in America. The message is clear you don’t have to convert and abandon your religion and culture to become succesfull. What Sonal Shah has acheived so far ALL her left wing nutty opponents won’t even acheive in 100 lives
11 · Go Sonal said
I totally see your point, and i totally agree with you, but sorry i HAVE to get a little technical here. Unless I’m mistaken, aren’t most Shahs Jains?
12 · fallen jhumki said
Drawing conclusions based on someone’s last name can lead to making the wrong conclusions. There are many people with Hindu sounding last names that are infact Christian or Muslim, viceversa is also the case. I heard that near the india-paki border there are a couple of villages were the residents had the last name Chauhan (a Hindu name) (anyway that doesn’t really matter since they reconverted back to Hindu Dharma a while ago).
Also Hindu or Hindu Dharma are inclusief terms. Historically speaken everyone in India that followed a religious way that was native to India was considered a Hindu. Even the Supreme Court of India agreed with that meaning. You must see the Hindu Dharma like a big tree, it might have many different branches but all are connected through the roots with India. So even if Sonal Shah follows the Jain religious way it is not incorrect to call her a Hindu Woman
11 · Go Sonal said
Wow, with fans like you, Sonal Shah needs no enemies.
Since Sonal is often lauded for her humanitarian efforts, do you think she’d appreciate the tone of your comment?
Also, can we retire the pathetic, tired, immature and unbelievably lazy “you’re just jealous” retort? It adds no value to any discussion. If you can’t put in the five minutes it takes to form a coherent rebuttal to someone who has an issue with your girl, just don’t bother; it’s not like you’re helping your beloved cause.
As the SM Intern helpfully points out now and then (in other discussions on this blog), this is an “American blog”. I think what should matter foremost is the ability of the person for the task/job they are assigned. Their political ideology with respect to matters in another country (India) that would be fairly unrelated to the US governance need not matter much. For the record, I grew up in India and have been in the US for several years now.
Is Sonal Shah really only in her 40s? From the picture of hers in the other post, she looks waaayyyyy too old to be be in her 40s. More like approaching 60.
Maybe SM can close this thread as Obama has already chosen his energy secy and it’s not Sonal Shah. She wasn’t even mentioned among the possible candidates he was choosing from. According to today’s news, he has chosen Stephen Chu.
7 · RC said
He wouldn’t be president if not for those “extreme left wing” of the party. Centrists were ralling around billary.
If he forgets that, he can end up as a one-term president