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NWF Welcomes Obama Energy and Environment Team

(National Wildlife Federation)

WASHINGTON, DC (December 15, 2008) - President-elect Barack Obama today introduces his energy and environment team, naming Carol Browner to lead a new council on climate, environment and energy issues; Steven Chu as energy secretary; Lisa Jackson as EPA administrator; and Nancy Sutley as head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

"President-elect Barack Obama reiterated his clean energy priorities just last week, promising to repower America and redesign how we use energy - to create jobs as we preserve our planet. Now he's put in place an experienced team that can get the job done.

"President-elect Obama has demonstrated with this team his commitment to change the course of America's energy policy; underscored by the appointment of Carol Browner to head a new council coordinating White House policy on energy, climate, and environment. Having served with her on the board of the Alliance for Climate Protection, I can tell you Carol Browner is an outstanding choice who can make up for eight years of lost opportunity by lending her proven leadership to usher in a new era of climate and energy initiatives.

"Especially in light of New Jersey's leadership on strong targets for carbon emission cuts, Lisa Jackson is exactly what this country and its precious environment needs in an EPA administrator: a practical, smart and dedicated individual who has a track record of moving sound environmental and conservation policies forward that benefit us all. We applaud the new administration's commitment to restoring protections for America's wetlands, streams, and floodplains. This will be of particular importance as global warming continues to impact the resiliency of the natural resources a strong economy depends on.

"Steven Chu's selection as energy secretary shows the White House will no longer be a battleground in the war on science. Instead, a Nobel laureate who's been a strong and powerful voice on the urgent need to confront global warming will lead our national energy policy. And if there's anyone who knows climate change must be dealt with on every level - by nations, states, and localities - it's Nancy Sutley, who's handled environmental issues from each of those perspectives.

"President-elect Obama's team knows that the most important thing America can do in 2009 to galvanize investment in clean energy technology is to enact a cap-and-invest plan that reduces global warming pollution and grows clean energy technologies that will recharge our economy. The National Wildlife Federation looks forward to working with them to help make it happen."

The National Wildlife Federation is America's largest conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.

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Miles Grant - Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation
National Advocacy Center
901 E St NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004
Cell: 703-864-9599  |  Office: 202-797-6855 | grantm@nwf.org

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