Trump picks Rice official for data post
President Donald Trump on Friday nominated Linda Capuano, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, to head the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA, the statistical agency of the Department of Energy, is one of the world’s most prominent providers of data and analysis on the world’s ener- gy sector, tracking everything from oil inventories to the growth of solar panels on the power grid.
A former executive at Marathon Oil, Capuano joined the Baker Institute in 2014 and conducted research into improving the treatment of brackish water that is a byproduct of oil and gas drilling. If confirmed, she would succeed Adam Sieminski, who was appointed EIA administrator by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and left the agency in January.
A spokesman for the Baker Institute said Capuano was not
available for comment.
Edward Djerejian, director of the Baker Institute, said the announcement was a “reflection of the expertise of one of our fellows.”
“We’re a bridge between the world of ideas and the world of action,” he said. “We bring together people from the corporate world and government with scholars to produce ideas that reflect both worlds.”
Founded as a think tank in 1993, the Baker Institute counts among its ranks a number of former highranking government officials.
Among them are George W.S. Abbey, the former head of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Djerejian, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, as well as James Baker III, the former secretary of state and White House chief of staff, for whom the institute is named.