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Steven Chu, a prominent Chinese-American scientist is likely to be inducted as the US energy secretary under the Barack Obama administration. The director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Chu won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997 for his work in the 'development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light'. The US President-elect is also expected to nominate Lisa Jackson for environmental protection agency (EPA) administrator. Jackson is the head of the Department of Environmental Protection in New Jersey.
Former Clinton administration EPA director Carol Browner will be given the new responsibility of overseeing energy, environmental and climate policies by Obama. The appointments suggest that Obama plans to make a strong push for measures to combat global warming and programs to support energy innovation According to media reports, the formal announcements will be made in the coming weeks. Meanwhile Obama will formally nominate former Senate leader Tom Daschle to be secretary for health and human services.
