Lisa Jackson.
EPA Administrator: Lisa Jackson (not officially announced)
Some enviros have been critical of Jackson — get the story.
Steven Chu.
Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu (not officially announced)
Watch Chu talk about climate change and renewable energy.
Carol Browner.
Energy Czar: Carol Browner (not officially announced)
Browner, who was EPA administrator during the entire Clinton administration, has been a long-time acolyte of Al Gore.
Nancy Sutley.
Chair of Council on Environmental Quality: Nancy Sutley (not officially announced)
Hillary Clinton.
Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton
Clinton — who will be overseeing international climate negotiations — had a strong climate and energy platform during her presidential run.
Read a 2007 interview with Clinton.
Bill Richardson.
Secretary of Commerce: Bill Richardson
Richardson will be charged with creating jobs, both green and otherwise, and with overseeing the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. He had an ambitious climate and energy platform during his presidential run, and has been an advocate for clean energy and climate action during his tenure as governor of New Mexico. In nominating him, Obama cited his experience as secretary of energy in the Clinton administration.
Read a 2007 interview with Richardson.
Janet Napolitano.
Secretary of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano
Napolitano has spoken out against the border wall that divides Arizona from Mexico; the wall has been found detrimental to the environment.
James L. Jones.
National Security Advisor: James L. Jones
Some environmentalists are worried about Jones, noting that he serves on the board of Chevron Corp. and is head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, which is often at odds with enviros over energy issues.
Read up on Jones’ energy views and how they may or may not matter within the National Security Council.
Peter R. Orszag.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Peter Orszag
Read about Orszag’s views on curbing greenhouse-gas emissions.
Rahm Emanuel.
Chief of Staff: Rahm Emanuel
Emanuel — who will be charged with running the White House and implementing the president agenda — got high marks from the League of Conservation Voters during his time in the U.S. House.
Secretary of Interior
- Raúl Grijalva, Democratic representative from Arizona
Grist profile of Grijalva
Conservation scientists endorse Grijalva - Mike Thompson, Democratic representative from California
Background on Thompson - Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian
Background on Gover - David Hayes, a partner at the law firm and lobby shop Latham & Watkins
Background on Hayes - Brian Schweitzer, governor of Montana
Rick Bass profiles Schweitzer, 2006 - Jamie Rappaport Clark, Fish and Wildlife Service director under President Clinton and current executive vice president at Defenders of Wildlife
Grist Q&A with Rappaport Clark, 2005 - Jay Inslee, Democratic representative from Washington state
Grist interview with Inslee, 2007 - Tony Knowles, former governor of Alaska
- John Kitzhaber, former governor of Oregon
- Ken Salazar, Democratic senator from Colorado and former executive director of Colorado Natural Resources Department
Secretary of Agriculture
- Charles Stenholm, former Democratic representative from Texas
- Dennis Wolff, secretary of agriculture for Pennsylvania
- Tom Vilsack, former governor of Iowa
Grist interview with Vilsack, 2007 - Tom Buis, a former aide to Sen. Tom Daschle and president of the National Farmers Union
- Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, Democratic representative from South Dakota and former director of the South Dakota Farmers Union Foundation
- Jim Leach, former Republican representative from Iowa
- Collin Peterson, Democratic representative from Minnesota and chair of House Agriculture Committee
- John Salazar, Democratic representative from Colorado
- Sanford Bishop, Democratic representative from Georgia
- Progressive activists have offered up an alternative list of names
Secretary of Transportation
- Earl Blumenauer, Democratic representative from Oregon
- Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for the Bay Area
- Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania
- James Oberstar, Democratic representative from Minnesota and chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Peter DeFazio, Democratic representative from Oregon and chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Janette Sadik-Kahn, commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation
- Jane Garvey, former head of Federal Aviation Administration
- Mortimer Downey, deputy transportation secretary under President Clinton
