The Wall Street Journal recently looked at the trouble the Department of Energy will have efficiently spending all the extra cash allocated to it under the stimulus bill. The article noted: “The Energy Department has had limited experience pulling off big, transformative energy projects.”

Actually, the department has undertaken big projects many times, but the Journal is correct that it sure as heck hasn’t pulled them off. Indeed, the history of big federal energy projects is one of boondoggle, boondoggle, boondoggle.

Unless President Obama has a magic formula that fundamentally changes the nature of government management, Americans can expect a horribly wasteful energy spending spree in coming years.