Obama Announces Energy Team

Yesterday, President Elect Obama announced the leaders of his energy team. He chose Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu as Energy Secretary and Carol Browner to lead the White House Council on Energy and Climate (aka Energy Czar).

Obama made clear he plans take energy policy in a sharply different direction from President George W. Bush, promising aggressive moves to address global warming and pump money and support into research into alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and biofuels.

Chu’s selection was viewed as a clear signal that science would weight heavily in the Obama administration. Chu is a widely respected scientist who has been a vocal advocate for aggressive action to deal with climate change. At the Berkeley lab, he has pushed research into the use of plants and energy from the sun as fuel.

In brief remarks, Chu said: “What the world does in the coming decade will have enormous consequences that will last for centuries. It’s imperative that we begin without further delay.”

What do you think Chu and Browner’s top priorities should be? Post a comment and let us know.