When Steven Chu was US energy secretary, he addressed a small group of senators about climate change. “I said, ‘Imagine you’re on your deathbed, you’re surrounded by your family, and one of your grandchildren says, ‘Grandpa, you were in a position to do something about this, and you did nothing. Didn’t you love us?’ I was told [by the White House chief of staff] I can’t say that anymore. Why not? Because it makes them feel very uncomfortable.”

Chu broke a mould in US politics: a Nobel-prizewinning physicist, he was, when appointed in 2009, the first practising scientist to become energy secretary. “Chu’s the right guy?.?.?.?He actually deserved his Nobel Prize,” joked his boss, Barack Obama, himself a Nobel laureate. Chu became a key voice for alternative energy, overseeing a $465mn loan that kept Tesla afloat and pushing new nuclear plants.

The Biden administration has now gone much further than Obama’s, which failed to pass major climate legislation. Yet Chu and others concerned about the climate are now the ones feeling very uncomfortable. Global temperatures have broken records for 11 straight months. Meanwhile, markets are punishing companies making green investments.