President-elect Obama's appointment for Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, has been widely applauded, as have Obama's choices for sub-cabinet positions related to science in general and climate change in particular.  Since Dec. 20, when Obama made the announcement that Chu would be Secretary of Energy; John Holdren would be Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Jane Lubchenco would be the new head of NOAA, people have been reassured that Obama's administration would 1) take the science on climate change seriously, 2) make use of innovative technology and collaborative approaches and 3) act quickly.

Chu, appointed director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2004, has refocused the lab's research on biofuels and solar energy technologies. Chu has argued that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combat global warming.  James Gentile, writing at Huffington Post, says of Chu, "He understands that energy policy is not just about oil, and he has a distinguished history of involvement in the kinds of transformational science that could radically alter U.S. dependence on foreign oil."  After listing Chu's many accomplishments, he notes that Chu has partnered with a range of organizations, including industry. Under his watch, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory became a partner "in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a half-billion-dollar partnership with British Petroleum and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne to conduct research needed to produce biofuels from plant material." 

Another article in the New York Times by Kenneth Chang and Andrew Revkin, describes another joint venture that Chu has taken the Lawrence Berkleley Lab into, the Joint Bioenergy Institute, nicknamed Jay-Bay (JBEI) and why it speaks to a uniquely creative approach to alternative energy.   JBEI is located in Emeryville, a couple of miles from the Lab, in the neighborhood of biotech companies, and it fits right in.  "Dr. Chu hopes to find (or engineer) better biofuel plants and to develop processes for breaking down cellulose and transforming it into fuel at costs competitive with gasoline." . . . "For years, Dr. Chu has been unambiguous in stating that carbon dioxide emitted by cars, power plants and industry is a direct cause of global warming and that urgent action to slash emissions is needed to avoid upheaval of the planet’s climate." . . . "JBEI, whose mission is to use so-called synthetic biology to convert plant cellulose into fuel."  The authors say it is likely that JBEI, which is funded by the Energy Department, will be a model for harnessing the national laboratories to address climate and energy issues. 

Having the Energy Department under such a creative and knowledgeable person bodes well.  In addition, both of President-elect Obama's selections for top science positions are top-level scientists as well as strongly committed to addressing climate change.  A New York Times editorial commended Obama for selecting all three.  They note prominently that they are committed to address real issues like climate change and are a "welcome departure from the many ideologues and lobbyists that Dick Cheney assembled to advise President Bush on environmental matters".

John Holdren is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  He has also "argued strongly and repeatedly for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gases to avoid catastrophic climate change".  Most recently, Holdren wrote an article for the October 2008 edition of "Scientific American", entitled "The Future of Climate Change Policy: The U.S.'s Last Chance to Lead".  Holdren talks about the considerable change that will occur as the earth warms up the 2 degrees C that is already in the pipeline.

"There is no way to keep the temperature increase under two degrees C unless these big emitters start taking serious action almost immediately. The U.S. and the other industrial nations on the list have an obligation to lead this transition. They have caused most of the buildup of gases to date, and they have the largest per capita emissions, the greatest wealth and the most technology. And they agreed to their responsibility to lead in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, to which the U.S. and 191 other countries are parties."

Jane Lubchenco, Obama's choice to lead NOAA, is also a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Lubchenco is a marine biologist at OSU and an expert on two global warming linked threats to the oceans, acidification, which is destroying coral reefs, and hypoxia, a condition that robs fish of the oxygen they need to survive.  NOAA is responsible for the health of the atmosphere and the oceans. 

Obama's selections in this arena seem unmatched.  If we are to turn around the earth's rush to a global warming dominated future, we will need every bit of their ingenuity, their connections, and their ability to pull in a wide range of supporters to move in the same direction.