Steven Chu has a novel method of dealing with difficult congressmen: reasoning with them.

The Energy secretary discussed the exigencies of his job Saturday on the NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! When asked by host Peter Sagal about the hazards of testifying before Congress, Chu said that lawmakers seemed to take his academic record into account.

"The best way is to approach this as... an opportunity to do my best to convince people there's another point of view that is rationally based," he said. "... I think the response in Congress has been overall very healthy, and you know, it's nice -- I don't think they treat me like the average person who's in a Cabinet position."

Chu is a Nobel laureate in physics, and he served as head of Stanford University's physics department and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory before his Cabinet selection in December 2008. He has since been tasked with launching a renewable energy regime, which has put him at odds with members of Congress wary of an emissions cap and other measures to wean the country from carbon-based fuels.

Sagal seized on the opportunity to lampoon congressmen skeptical of the size and scope of the Obama administration's efforts to replace oil with clean energy. "How hard was it to go from the world of science, which is based on rationality and truth, to the world of politics, which is not?" he asked.

Chu did not join Sagal and the show's guest panelists in chiding lawmakers, but he did admit that advancing his agenda before Congress required finesse.

"They'll at least give you the first minute where they'll listen, and from there on in, it depends on what you say and how you can reason with people," he said.

Chu also suggested that the Obama administration's energy agenda is most compelling in its most basic form.

"I think the way you talk with them is you show them data. It's a novel thing, but actually showing data first before you talk about opinions is a good way to do this."

One of the panelists quipped, "What if they can't read?"

"No, these are pictures," said Chu.

More from Saturday's program is available here.

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