President Barack Obama plans this week to nominate Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz as his Energy Department chief, according to numerous press reports.
Moniz???s current job as head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's energy initiative keeps him focused on reducing greenhouse gases. He was also a top Energy Department official during the Clinton administration.
If confirmed by the Senate, Moniz would replace retiring secretary Steven Chu.
By selecting McCarthy to head the contentious EPA, Obama reinforces his intention to make ???climate change??? a top priority in his second term.
McCarthy would replace retiring EPA Chief Lisa Jackson.
As head of the EPA???s clean air office, McCarthy was a central player in developing greenhouse-gas rules proposed last year that would effectively shutter proposed coal-fired electrical plants, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Massachusetts native also served in the Romney administration???s energy cabinet focusing on climate change issues.
