Gore says no to 'Climate Czar' role
President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is flirting with creating
a White House "Climate Czar," but climate change crusader Al Gore says he
doesn't want the job.
The Obama team declined to comment on such a post, even as
environmentalists and power industry executives say it's being widely
discussed inside the transition offices as a way to spur a clean energy
industry, which Mr. Obama has promised will ween the U.S. from foreign oil
and create millions of "green jobs."
Obama transition chief John Podesta promoted a similar idea earlier in his
role as president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington
think tank.
Mr. Podesta authored a white paper calling for an Energy Security Council
within the White House to oversee climate change and clean energy
initiatives. The czar and the council would coordinate agencies, including
the Energy and Interior departments and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The obvious choice to lead the council is Mr. Gore, whose campaign to
address climate change earned him the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. But the former
vice president is taking a pass.
"Former Vice President Gore does not intend to seek or accept any formal
position in government," Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said. "He feels very
strong right now that the best thing for him to do is to build support for
the bold changes that we have to make to solve the climate crisis."
Mr. Obama foreshadowed the new post on the campaign trail in April when he
told a voter that Mr. Gore would be offered a special Cabinet post
overseeing climate change.
"Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how
we solve this problem," Mr. Obama said.
Al Gore appears on behalf of Barack Obama early Friday afternoon, Oct. 31,
2008, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla..
Gore, former vice president and democratic presidential candidate in 2000,
and his wife Tipper, returned to Palm Beach County, ground zero of the year
2000 election debacle. It was Gore's first campaign event for the
Obama/Biden ticket.(AP Photo/Palm Beach Post, Lannis Waters)** OUT PALM
BEACH AND OKEECHOBEE COUNTIES. OUT TV, OUT MAGAZINES, OUT TABLOIDS, OUT
INTERNET USE. NO SALES**
With Mr. Gore out of the running for an administration job, leading
candidates for the post likely include former EPA chief Carol M. Browner,
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Other names mentioned for czar or membership in the energy council include
World Resources Institute President Jonathan Lash, former Pennsylvania
Environment Secretary Kathleen McGinty and California Air Resources Board
chief Mary D. Nichols.
The Obama transition team declined to comment on administration jobs or who
would fill them, stressing instead the next president's commitment to
fulfilling campaign promises for clean energy.
"Obama has outlined an aggressive energy and climate agenda and will put the
resources in place in his administration to achieve those goals," Obama
spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Environmental advocacy groups are clamoring for the new White House post to
raise the profile of energy and environmental policy.
"There's clearly a pent-up demand for things that got blocked during the
Bush years," Sierra Club spokesman Josh Dorner said.
Mr. Obama, taking a page from Mr. Gore's script, has argued that an energy
policy strikes the confluence of economic, national security and
environmental challenges facing the country.
"Finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. There´s no
better driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy
economy," Mr. Obama told Time magazine shortly before the election. "That´s
going to be my No. 1 priority when I get into office."
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