ENERGY TEAM: President-elect Barack Obama named his energy and environment team today, including Nobel laureate Steven Chu to head the U.S. Department of Energy.
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President-elect Barack Obama today named his picks to run the nation's energy and environment policy in a move that shows a strong commitment to getting climate change under control and exploring alternative energy sources such as solar and wind.
As expected, Obama selected New Jersey's former environmental chief Lisa Jackson, 46, as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the first African-American to head the EPA. Nobel-laureate Stephen Chu, physicist and director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, was chosen as energy secretary. Chu, 60, is a strong proponent of alternative fuels and halting global warming—and will also preside over the debate about whether to usher in a new generation of nuclear power plants in an effort to reduce climate change-causing carbon dioxide emissions.
Obama also named Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment, Nancy Sutley, 45, as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, an office that coordinates federal environmental actions. But, Carol Browner, who will turn 53 tomorrow and headed the EPA during the Clinton administration, will now serve as the nation's first "energy czar," or, formally, assistant to the president for energy and climate change. She will coordinate energy policy with the aid of Heather Zichal, who was the energy, environment and agriculture policy director for Obama's campaign, who was appointed deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change.
"The future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy," Obama said during a press conference in Chicago today announcing the picks, during which he promised that "this time must be different" in acknowledgement that previous presidents have promised similar dramatic efforts. His team is "ready to reform government and help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our nation is more secure and our planet is protected."
All nominees agree that tackling climate change will be a top priority, if they are confirmed. "The ominous signs of climate change we see today are a warning of dire economic and social consequences for us all, but especially for the poor of the world," Chu said in a statement. "The path to finding solutions is to bring together the finest, most passionate minds to work on the problem in a coordinated effort, and to give these researchers the resources commensurate with the challenge."
Arguably, Obama has achieved the former with his selections but it remains to be seen how energy and environment budgets will be impacted by the ongoing financial crisis. In the meantime, his appointments have not been without some controversy, including charges from Washington, D.C.-based Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility that Jackson, who worked in the Clinton EPA, failed to tackle New Jersey's toxic waste effectively.
Environmentalists hailed the picks as proof that the Obama administration would move forward seriously on climate change and an energy transformation. "This is a team with a keen interest in addressing climate change, and the talent and skills to get the job done," says Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Va. "With Steven Chu, Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson and Nancy Sutley at the helm, President-elect Obama's administration will be well-equipped to tackle the challenge of building a new clean energy future that preserves the climate while revitalizing our economy."
But climate change naysayers were not relishing a return of Browner, who clashed with Republicans over the latters' attempts to dilute the Clean Water Act but also was praised for working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to strengthen the Safe Drinking Water and Food Quality Protection acts. Nevertheless, some Republicans remained skeptical.
"The next president faces the challenge of balancing the environment with the reality of our current economic downturn," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who argues that global warming is a hoax. "At a time when the economy is already suffering, it will be interesting to see how President Obama will reconcile what seems to be conflicting agendas."
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6 Comments
Add CommentAfter listening to Obama's speech last night on the energy crisis we face, I really feel confident that his mind is in the right place. The people he chose seem passionate enough, and I feel will do a great job. I'm excited to work with them and see some action, and ultimately progress.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI from Russia.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHas seen a track record of the future minister and has understood, that to him the atomic engineering is closer, than alternative power.
If I am not right and in USA there is an interest in introduction of new and faultless power technologies, inform in this department that in Russia the technology of transformation of heat of an environment in job or electrical constant current is developed.
The working breadboard model is made. The authors are ready to open secrets.
The new power does not require(demand) burning of fuel and as the heat-carrier uses:
- Free-of-charge;
- Everywhere and round the clock accessible thermal energy of an environment.
Specific cost of the new engine of 50 $/kw, specific weight (without the account of the electrogenerator or box of change of transfers) no more than 0.6 kg / kw.
The Boeing 747-100 with new engines will take aboard in addition 120 tons of a cargo and to fly, though around of Globe without landing(planting) and fuel.
Vinogradov Yuriy
E-mail: vetto@nm.ru
How does global warming hurt the poor of the world harder? Chu tipped his hand and admitted this is just another Socialist scheme to transfer wealth. BTW we are in a cooling period. There is more ice in the Arctic this year than there has been since 1979 (where's that story here?). Sun activity is way down recently. IT'S THE SUN STUPID!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are right 'gorehoax'. I ran into a U.S. scientist from Anartica at the airport in Buenos Aires last spring on his way back to the States. He said the ice has increased 12 feet in the last couple of years, and there is no global warming. The scientists know it's a hoax....some have a political agenda...against capitalism. If we recognize that the ice age melted without human help, why can't some recognize the power of the sun can't be regulated (or affected, for that matter).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's really all about feelings for you, isn't it?
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