"WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Monday named two people to his cabinet who will be charged with making good on his threat to use the powers of the executive branch to tackle climate change and energy policy if Congress does not act quickly."
"Mr. Obama nominated Gina McCarthy, a tough-talking native of Boston and an experienced clean air regulator, to take charge at the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ernest J. Moniz, a physicist and strong advocate of natural gas and nuclear power as cleaner alternatives to coal, to run the Department of Energy.
The appointments, which require Senate confirmation, send an unmistakable signal that the president intends to mount a multifaceted campaign in his second term to tackle climate change by using all the executive branch tools at his disposal.
But even with Ms. McCarthy and Mr. Moniz in place, Mr. Obama would have to confront major hurdles in trying to refashion the American way of producing and consuming energy, the same hurdles that stymied climate and energy policy in his first term.
Among the first of those is a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which the administration appears inclined to approve over the vociferous objections of environmental advocates."
John M. Broder and Matthew L. Wald report for the New York Times March 4, 2013.
SEE ALSO:
"Obama’s Second-Term Cabinet To Play Bigger Policy Role" (Washington Post)
"Obama’s ‘All of the Above’ Energy and Environment Nominees" (Dot Earth)
"Natural Gas Seen Gaining With Obama’s Fracking-Friendly Nominees" (Bloomberg)
"McCarthy's Republican History Should Smooth Path to EPA" (Reuters)
"Enviros Cheer Obama EPA Pick" (Mother Jones)
"Do Obama Cabinet Picks Match His Greener Second-Term Talk?" (Christian Science Monitor)
"Gina McCarthy Gets EPA Head Nomination From Obama" (Huffington Post)
"Ernest Moniz, Considered Fracking Shill By Some Environmentalists, Sparks Concern Amid Energy Department Nomination" (Huffington Post)
"Obama Names McCarthy to Head EPA, Moniz for Energy" (ENS)
"The Next Secretary of Commerce or Weather?" (Huffington Post)
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