Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Talking heads discuss Barack Obama's pick of former EPA chief Carol Browner to a newly created position of energy czar.
Monday, December 15, 2008
By KEVIN FRIEDL
Calling alternative energy "a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time," President-elect Obama this afternoon announced his top energy and environmental nominations at a press conference held in Chicago's Drake Hotel. The choices were no less consequential for being entirely expected, signaling a commitment from the Obama administration to bolster an enervated Environmental Protection Agency and encourage alternative energy and green job creation.
As was widely rumored in the run-up to today's announcements, Obama named Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize winning physicist, as his pick to run the Department of Energy, and Clinton-era EPA administrator Carol Browner as his "energy czar." In that position, Browner will coordinate policy on energy and climate change. Rounding out the Obama "green team" were Lisa Jackson as his choice for EPA administrator and Nancy Sutley to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The presser was held after an earlier meeting Obama held with his national security team, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell and Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Biden accompanied the president-elect to the Drake, where he landed a rare speaking part, praising predecessor Al Gore, with whom he and Obama recently met, and taking a not-so-subtle jab at the office's current holder.
"I pledge to the American people that the office of the vice president will no longer be an obstacle to environmental protection, but it will be, as it was under Al Gore, a force for leaping ahead," Biden said.
As the presser wound down and Obama fielded two questions in a row about his energy policy, it appeared as though he would be able to avoid any mention of disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But reporters managed to slip one past the goalie, asking Obama to address reports that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with Blagojevich's office.
Obama sidestepped the question, repeating his statement that he had no contact with the governor's office or "anybody in the governor's office" and that his staff hadn't done anything "inappropriate." Referring to a statement released earlier today by his transition team, Obama said they had conducted a review of their office's contact with the governor's office but were holding it at the request of the U.S. Attorney's office.
"This appalling set of circumstances that we've seen arise had nothing to do with my office, and those facts will be forthcoming to all of you in due course," Obama said. "We just want to make sure that we're not interfering with an ongoing and active investigation."
Check in with National Journal's Energy and Environment blog to see what our panel of experts has to say about Obama's nominees.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
National Journal has confirmed that President-elect Obama is set to name Carol Browner for a newly formed position overseeing White House policy on climate, energy and the environment.
Browner became the longest-serving administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton. She currently sits on the board of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's global consulting firm.
Others who had been rumored for the position include former Vice President Al Gore, who reiterated during his meeting with Obama on Tuesday that he was not interested, and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
By CORINE HEGLAND
The Obama transition team has announced policy working groups in seven areas: economic; education; energy and environment; health care; immigration; national security; and technology, innovation and government reform. Full biographies of the lucky wonks leading the groups are up on the Change.Gov Web site. The CliffsNotes version follows.
Economic
- Daniel K. Tarullo. NOW: Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. THEN: President Clinton's representative to the G-7/G-8, 1995-1998.
Education
- Linda Darling-Hammond. NOW: Education professor at Stanford University. THEN: No prior federal gig, but former president of the American Educational Research Association; former executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future; former chair of the New York State Curriculum and Assessment Council.
Energy & Environment
- Carol Browner. NOW: Principal at the Albright Group. THEN: EPA Administrator, 1993-2001.
Health Care
- Tom Daschle. NOW: Adviser to law firm of Alston and Bird. THEN: Senator from South Dakota, 1987-2005; Senate Democratic Leader, 1995-2005.
Immigration
- T. Alexander Aleinikoff. NOW: Dean of Georgetown University Law Center and executive vice president of Georgetown University. THEN: General counsel and then executive associate commissioner for programs at the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1994-1997.
- Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar: NOW: Professor at Stanford Law School. THEN: Senior adviser to the undersecretary for enforcement at Treasury, 1997-1999.
National Security
- James B. Steinberg. NOW: Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. THEN: Deputy national security adviser, 1996-2000.
- Susan E. Rice. NOW: Senior fellow at Brookings. THEN: Assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, 1997-2001.
Technology, Innovation & Government Reform
- Blair Levin. NOW: Managing director of Stifel Nicolaus. THEN: Chief of staff to FEC Chairman Reed Hundt, 1993-1997.
- Sonal Shah. NOW: Head of global development at Google.org, Google's philanthropic branch. THEN: Worked at Treasury Department from 1995 to 2002, including a two-year stint at the National Security Council.
- Julius Genachowski. NOW: Co-founder of Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital, special adviser at General Atlantic. THEN: Worked at FCC from 1994 to 1997, including stint as chief counsel to Hundt.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
President-elect
Barack Obama this afternoon sent a release to reporters naming the senior staffers to the Obama-Biden Transition Project, which will be overseen by former Clinton Chief of Staff
John Podesta, senior adviser
Valerie Jarrett and Obama's chief of staff,
Pete Rouse. The release also announced that the official Web site of the transition would launch later today at www.change.gov.
The complete release is copied below:
Chicago -- For the past several months, a board of advisors has been informally planning for a possible presidential transition. Among the many projects undertaken by the transition board have been detailed analyses of previous transition efforts, policy statements made during the campaign, and the workings of federal government agencies, and priority positions that must be filled by the incoming administration.
With Barack Obama and
Joe Biden's election, this planning process will be now be formally organized as the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501(c)(4) organization to ensure a smooth transition from one administration to the next. The work of this entity will be overseen by three co-chairs: John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.
The co-chairs will be assisted by an advisory board comprised of individuals with significant private and public sector experience:
Carol Browner,
William Daley,
Christopher Edley,
Michael Froman,
Julius Genachowski,
Donald Gips, Governor
Janet Napolitano,
Federico Peña,
Susan Rice,
Sonal Shah,
Mark Gitenstein, and
Ted Kaufman. Gitenstein and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden's transition team.
Supervising the day-to-day activities of the transition will be:
Transition Senior Staff:Chris Lu - Executive Director
Dan Pfeiffer - Communications Director
Stephanie Cutter - Chief Spokesperson
Cassandra Butts - General Counsel
Jim Messina - Personnel Director
Patrick Gaspard - Associate Personnel Director
Christine Varney - Personnel Counsel
Melody Barnes - Co-Director of Agency Review
Lisa Brown - Co-Director of Agency Review
Phil Schiliro - Director of Congressional Relations
Michael Strautmanis - Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
Katy Kale - Director of Operations
Brad Kiley - Director of Operations
