Obama announces energy, environmental team

Chicago, Dec.16 (ANI): US President-elect Barack Obama on Monday announced his energy and environmental teams.

Steven Chu, who shared the Nobel Prize for physics 11 years ago, was tapped to be Obama's secretary of the Department of Energy.

He is currently the head of the Berkeley National Laboratory and is a specialist in carbon-neutral energy sources.

Obama said Chu was "uniquely suited" to serve in his Cabinet.

Obama also named Carol Browner, former Environmental Protection Agency head under the Clinton administration, to serve as his energy coordinator -- overseeing energy, climate and environmental issues.

In that role, Browner would be responsible for implementing the president-elect's promise to create millions of jobs in a green-energy economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Obama named Lisa Jackson, the former head of New Jersey's environmental protection department, as national EPA head.

In announcing his selections, Obama warned that Americans cannot be "lulled into complacency" by temporarily falling gas prices.

"To control our own destiny, America must develop new forms of energy and new ways of using it," Obama said. "This is not a challenge for government alone. It's a challenge for all of us."

Obama made the announcements as questions linger over his aides' involvement in the scandal surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. (ANI)