Obama nominates secretary of energy, EPA administrator today

President Obama has nominated a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist and a long-time pollution regulator to lead the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency.

Ernest J. Moniz, who was an undersecretary at the energy department during the Clinton administration, got the nod to lead the administration's efforts to encourage renewable energy infrastructure development, while Gina McCarthy, the current EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation, was asked to take the lead on air and water pollution regulation.

The EPA appointment is the one that is more likely to provoke Republican opposition in the U.S. Senate. McCarthy would be tasked with implementing the administration's climate change regulatory agenda. Among other priorities is likely to be an effort to impose carbon dioxide emission limits on existing power plants, a fix to the cross-state air pollution rule recently rejected by a federal court, and development of ozone national ambient air quality standards.

Moniz is seen as being at least somewhat friendly to natural gas extraction while also being an advocate for the administration's efforts to encourage more renewable energy production.

If confirmed, Moniz would replace Steven Chu at the Department of Energy, while McCarthy would, if confirmed by the Senate, replace Lisa P. Jackson.

Juliet Eilperin's article in Monday's Washington Post includes a profile of McCarthy.