Following the launch of his Facebook and Youtube accounts, Energy Secretary Steven Chu made another attempt to reach the young, hip, in-crowd Tuesday night by appearing on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

Chu,  a Nobel Prize winning scientist and self-described nerd, began his appearance by  offering a t-shirt to the show’s host comedian Jon Stewart, proclaiming him an honorary member of the “Nerds of America Society.”

“You know I have been an unofficial member for years,” Stewart quipped in response.

The rest of the chat mostly dealt with the climate change legislation before Congress. 

Earlier in the show, Stewart jokingly fell asleep into a cream pie as he described the cap-and- trade system that Democrats hope to put in place to limit carbon dioxide emissions. He also suggested the bill has been watered down by the political process.

When asked whether the bill that recently passed the House of Representatives went far enough to address global warming, Chu said “if you go to the left or the right, people are not happy with it. But the  bottom line is it puts a cap on carbon emissions.”

Stewart pointed out that Chu has to deal with lawmakers who believe global warming is a hoax and argue that carbon occurs in nature so it can’t be bad for the planet.

“That is true, but on the other hand, water is generally very good. Water in great deluges is not good,” Chu responded.

Stewart gave Chu the ultimate compliment.

“Can I tell you something? You are the first Cabinet member I’ve met from the Obama administration that seems alive. You are the first one,” Stewart said.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Chu during Reutes Energy Summit June 1)