President-elect Barack Obama introduced his selections for his energy
and environment team today: Dr. Steven Chu for Secretary of Energy, Lisa
Jackson for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Nancy Sutley
for chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, and Carol Browner for
a new White House position as chief energy and climate adviser. Heather
Zichal was also named as deputy assistant to the President on climate
and energy policy.
Good afternoon. Over the past few weeks, Vice President-Elect Biden
and I have announced key members of our economic and national security
teams. In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and
national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy. So
today, we’re pleased to introduce the team that will lead our efforts
on energy and the environment.
In the next few years, the choices that we make will help determine
the kind of country – and world – that we will leave to our children
and grandchildren. All of us know the problems rooted in our addiction
to foreign oil – it constrains our economy, shifts wealth to hostile
regimes, and leaves us dependent on unstable regions. These urgent
dangers are eclipsed only by the long-term threat of climate change,
which – unless we act – will lead to drought and famine abroad,
devastating weather patterns and terrible storms on our shores, and
the disappearance of our coastline at home.
For over three decades, we’ve listened to a growing chorus of warnings
about our energy dependence. We’ve heard President after President
promise to chart a new course. We’ve heard Congress talk about energy
independence, only to pull up short in the face of opposition from
special interests. We’ve seen Washington launch policy after policy.
Yet our dependence on foreign oil has only grown, even as the world’s
resources are disappearing.
This time must be different. This time we cannot fail, nor be lulled
into complacency simply because the price at the pump has – for now –
gone down from $4 a gallon. To control our own destiny, America must
develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it. This is not a
challenge for government alone – it is a challenge for all of us. The
pursuit of a new energy economy requires a sustained,
all-hands-on-deck effort because the foundation of our energy
independence is right here, in America – in the power of wind and
solar; in new crops and new technologies; in the innovation of our
scientists and entrepreneurs, and the dedication and skill of our
workforce. Those are the resources we must harness to move beyond our
oil addiction and create a new, hybrid economy.
As we face this challenge, we can seize boundless opportunities for
our people. We can create millions of jobs, starting with a 21st
Century Economic Recovery Plan that puts Americans to work building
wind farms, solar panels, and fuel-efficient cars. We can spark the
dynamism of our economy through long term investments in renewable
energy that will give life to new businesses and industries, with good
jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced. We will make public
buildings more efficient, modernize our electric grid, reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, and protect and preserve our natural
resources.
We must also recognize that the solution to global climate change must
be global. I spoke a few days ago with Senator John Kerry, who updated
me on the recent climate negotiations in Poland. Just as we work to
reduce our own emissions, we must forge international solutions to
ensure that every nation is doing its part. As we do so, America will
lead not just at the negotiating table – we will lead, as we always
have, through innovation and discovery; through hard work and the
pursuit of a common purpose.
The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to meet
the great challenges of this defining moment. They are leading experts
and accomplished managers, and they are ready to reform government and
help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our
nation is more secure, and our planet is protected.
Dr. Steven Chu is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who has been
working at the cutting edge of our nation’s effort to develop new and
cleaner forms of energy. He blazed new trails as a scientist, teacher,
and administrator, and has recently led the Berkeley National
Laboratory in pursuit of new alternative and renewable energies.
Steven is uniquely-suited to be our next Secretary of Energy as we
make this pursuit a guiding purpose of the Department of Energy, as
well as a national mission. The scientists at our national labs will
have a distinguished peer at the helm. His appointment should send a
signal to all that my Administration will value science, we will make
decisions based on the facts, and we understand that the facts demand
bold action.
For my Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, I have
chosen Lisa Jackson. Lisa has spent a lifetime in public service
at the local, state and federal level. As Commissioner of New Jersey’s
Department of Environmental Protection, she has helped make her state
a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing new
sources of energy, and she has the talent and experience to continue
this effort at the EPA. Lisa also shares my
commitment to restoring the EPA’s robust
role in protecting our air, water and abundant natural resources so
that our environment is cleaner and our communities are safer.
Nancy Sutley will be an integral part of this team as the Chair of
my Council on Environmental Quality in the White House. In recent
years, we have seen states and cities take the initiative in forging
innovative solutions on energy. Nancy has been at the cutting edge of
this effort – working as a Regional Administrator for the
EPA, at the state level in Sacramento, and
recently as the Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment in Los
Angeles. Now, she will bring this unique experience to Washington, and
be a key player in helping to make our government more efficient, and
coordinating our efforts to protect our environment at home and around
the globe.
Finally, the scope of the effort before us will demand coordination
across the government, and my personal engagement as President. That
is why I’m naming Carol Browner to a new post in the White House
to coordinate energy and climate policy. Carol understands that our
efforts to create jobs, achieve energy security and combat climate
change demand integration among different agencies; cooperation
between federal, state and local governments; and partnership with the
private sector. She brings the unmatched experience of being a
successful and longest-serving Administrator of the
EPA. She will be indispensable in
implementing an ambitious and complex energy policy.
Later this week, I will be announcing my designee for Secretary of the
Interior, which will fill out my energy and environmental team. The
Interior Department will play a critical role in meeting the
challenges that I have discussed today.
Looking ahead, I am confident that we will be ready to begin the
journey towards a new energy frontier on January 20th. This will be a
leading priority of my presidency, and a defining test of our time. We
cannot afford complacency, nor accept any more broken promises. We
won’t create a new energy economy and protect our environment
overnight, but we can begin that work right now if we think anew, and
act anew. Now, we must have the will to act, and to act boldly.
Thank you.
President-elect Barack Obama’s
