Obama Chooses Heads of DOE, EPA

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen the Nobel-prize-winning head of a California research institute and a former New Jersey environmental official to fill his cabinet positions heading the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will lead DOE, while Lisa Jackson, former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, will lead EPA, Bloomberg said, citing a presidential transition team official.

Chu, the son of Chinese immigrants, won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, while Jackson is currently chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D).

Former EPA Administrator Carol Browner is likely to be named a senior coordinator on energy and environmental issues, and will report directly to the president, Bloomberg said.