Audubon chair chosen for Obama's energy team

Today President-elect Barack Obama announced his choices for his energy and environment team. He named Carol Browner -- who currently chairs the board of directors of National Audubon Society -- to "a newly created position to coordinate energy and climate policy."

In this new post, Browner will direct the efforts of numerous federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, the EPA, the Transportation Department, the Interior Department, the Defense Department and the Commerce Department.

Obama's first year in office will likely see action on at least three energy and climate fronts - a stimulus bill that contains major funding for mass transit, utility upgrades, and renewable energy development; a separate energy bill that contains more funding for renewable energy and possibly tighter fuel-efficiency standards; and a bill mandating a reduction in greenhouse gasses.

Browner, a skilled Washington insider, will likely be spearheading the political effort to get these policies enacted.

A lawyer by training, Browner headed the EPA under President Clinton from 1993 to 2000. She gained a reputation for forging compromises between environmental and business interests.

Earlier in her career, Browner worked as a legislative aide to the late Sen. Lawton Chiles of Florida and as an aide to then-Sen. Al Gore.

Since 2001, Browner has worked at the Albright Group, a Washington, D.C.-based consultancy set up by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She also sits on the board of the National Audubon Society.

According to National Audubon Society President John Flicker,

Carol Browner is an outstanding choice to direct the integration of energy and environmental policy and to reposition the U.S. as a leader in addressing global warming. No one is better suited to addressing these challenges than Carol Browner. As the very successful and longest serving administrator of the EPA, Carol Browner has a proven track record of success. She is a skilled and pragmatic leader who gets results.

Photo courtesy of National Audubon Society