Obama announces energy, environment team

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has named an environment team that signals his determination to tackle global warming quickly and develop alternative forms of energy. Obama selected Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Chu as energy secretary today and Carol Browner, a confidant of former vice president Al Gore, to lead a White House council on energy and climate. Browner headed the Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration. Chu is director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is an leading advocate of reducing greenhouse gases by developing new energy sources. Obama also has announced his choice of Lisa Jackson, former head of New Jersey’s environmental agency, as EPA administrator.