He was overseas on a "business related trip". And, given the time difference was asleep when the outage happened. Asleep at the switch.
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http://energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=AD_LSA.... Under Secretary Abraham's leadership, the Department of Energy has pursued an ambitious agenda that strengthens America's energy and national security.
In the first week of the new Administration, President Bush appointed Secretary Abraham and other Cabinet-level officials to a task force that developed the first National Energy Policy in over a decade. Since the energy plan was released, Secretary Abraham has led the Administration's efforts to increase energy supply and conservation and energy efficiency, and is currently working to secure passage of a comprehensive energy bill.
One of the key components of the National Energy Policy was nuclear power, which provides 20 percent of the nation's electricity. After years of inaction and delay, Secretary Abraham recommended Yucca Mountain as the nation's first repository of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste, and that recommendation was approved by decisive bipartisan majorities in both the House and Senate. ....
-----------Item 2, WHOPPER OF THE WEEK---------
http://slate.msn.com/id/1007393/Whopper of the Week: Spencer Abraham
Timothy Noah
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001, at 9:18 AM PT
"Some experts calculate that the demands of the Internet already consume some 8-13 percent of electricity. If demand grows at just the same pace as during the last decade, we'll need nearly 1,900 new plants by 2020--or more than 90 every year--just to keep pace."
--Energy secretary Spencer Abraham, in a March 19 speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ....
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