Why I Don't Think Perry Should Be Secretary of Energy

I don't think Gov. Perry should be Secretary of Energy. One could argue that a successful former Government of Texas would make a pretty good choice. With Texas being a major producer of oil and natural gas, not to mention having some major wind farms and other renewable energy industry; the leader of that state's Execute Branch should be well versed in energy policy, industry, regulations, and technologies. And on the surface, I would have to agree that using that logic, Perry would certainly be a person to consider for Secretary of Energy.

But to be completely honest, I don't think Gov. Perry should be Secretary of Energy. In fact, I don't thinks anybody should be Secretary of Energy. We should not have a Department of Energy in the first place. It is not needed. Nor are several other Cabinet level departments of out Federal Government.

Per Wikipedia:
"The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative.[3] DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories."

Let's look at each of the Department's responsibilities:

• The nation's nuclear weapons program - Department of Defense should handle this.
• Nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy - Again, Department of Defense.
• Energy conservation - Why a concern of the Federal Government? Isn't that something all aspects of both the public and private sectors would pursue on their own?
• Energy-related research - Again, why a concern of the Federal Government? If anything at the Federal level a Department of Education undertaking.
• Radioactive waste disposal - Department of the Interior, or maybe the Commerce and Labor Department (I'd merge those two departments back together, maybe absorb the Agriculture Department into it as well).
• Domestic energy production - The restructured Commerce and Labor Department.

Speaking of restructuring, the Veterans Affairs Department and Homeland Security would be absorbed by the Department of Defense. And when I say absorbed, the redundancies would be removed entirely.