Obama’s Team, Continued - Climate experts get key US posts is the headline from the BBC.  John Holdren, a physicist, Harvard professor, and director of the Woods Hole Research Center, has been named Obama’s top science advisor.  Holdren is a passionate advocate of early and decisive action on warming.  See also this from Woods Hole on the announcement in which Holdren says:  “None of the great interlinked challenges of our time - the economy, energy, environment, health, security, and the particular vulnerabilities of the poor to shortfalls in all of these - can be solved without insights and advances from the physical sciences, the life sciences, and engineering.”

Obama also named marine biologist Jane Lubchenco to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency that has critical importance in how we monitor the environmental changes that are occurring.  She is a professor at Oregon State and another outspoken member of the scientific community on the issue of climate change.  See her webpage here.   (Coincidence that Michelle Obama’s brother is the basketball coach at Oregon State?  Probably.)

Further Thoughts on Poznan - There were several important developments at these UNFCCC meetings worth noting.  (See here and here for previous posts.)  The road to Copenhagen will yet be tortuous and stony, but, for one thing, the idea of intensified efforts on “reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” (REDD) has taken hold.  We are not only diminishing the capacity of forests to sequester carbon in cutting them down, but burning them increases carbon dioxide.  (I’ve written about forests a number of times at the blog.)

REDD is a full-tilt assault on the problem and there are victories being won aside from the more deeply energized commitment won in Poznan.  Brazil has made the battle against rainforest destruction its own and that has incalculable value in setting an example for others.  I heard Stephan Schwartzman from EDF speaking this past week at a webinar about this and other REDD-related matters.

Another milestone occurred in the launch of the Adaptation Fund.  Bloomberg News put it this way here:  “Poor countries at the United Nations climate talks in Poland may win approval to tap into a $990 million fund as early as next month to cope with the damage of global warming, their biggest victory in 11 days of debate.”

Another of the main developments was the firm commitment to an arduous work plan for the coming year.  See this summary from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the comprehensive coverage from the UNFCCC, which includes webcasts, and all the documentation.  Finally, listen to Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC executive secretary, at his final media briefing.

Smart Grid, Green Buildings - Further to my notes below on the smart grid, see Intelligent Buildings Meet the Smart Grid from “GreenerBuildings News” and the accompanying articles.  As Rob Watson, the executive editor, notes “Today, we recognize that a network of decentralized, building-level services connected through the grid results in a much more robust, and sustainable, alternative than the autonomous Earthships of yesteryear.”

In a related story, from RenewableEnergyWorld.com, titled Report Details Potential of Combined Heat and Power in US, we learn that if the US had 20% of generating capacity coming from CHP by 2030, we would realize a 60% reduction of the projected increase in carbon dioxide emissions.  I heard an energy consultant once say that not having CHP as a standard should be construed as criminal behavior.  You can see why.

Renewables Beat the Old Energy - In another item from the always excellent RenewableEnergyWorld.com, we get that a study from Stanford gives quantitative reasons why nuclear, coal and biofuels are very much the wrong path if we want “to improve energy security, mitigate global warming and reduce the number of deaths caused by air pollution”  You can read this important paper here, at “Energy & Environmental Science.”  (See also my reference to a terrific article, “Exajoules of Hope,” at a post from August.)

As of today, we now have the last of the top energy and environment players in place.  President-Elect Obama has named former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to be Secretary of Agriculture and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to Interior.  See this, including a video of the announcement, from the WaPo.  Obama said “How we harness our natural resources, from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado, will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future.”  Salazar said he was looking forward to taking “the moon-shot on energy independence” and also to confronting “the dangers of global warming.”  Vilsack said that Ag would help provide “American leadership on climate change.”  Both nominees are unequivocal on climate change.

These departments have enormous influence over energy and the environment.  USDA’s role in biofuels is going to be critical, certainly, and Interior has the final say over much of what the extractive industries do.

As you know, Obama named his other key energy and environment team last week.  It’s an impressive line-up both in the depth of technical expertise that the nominees have and in their government experience.  Steven Chu, the next Secretary of Energy, is a Nobel laureate in physics.  Lisa Jackson, who will head the EPA, is a chemical engineer.  Nancy Sutley who will be chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality has excellent experience, most recently as Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles for Energy and Environment.  Bill Richardson, at Commerce, a superb environmentalist and former Sec. of Energy, will also have a lot to contribute in creating the “new energy economy.”

Carol Browner, Clinton and Gore’s EPA Administrator, will coordinate many of the activities of these agencies from the White House.  She has been named Coordinator for Energy and Climate.  One would like to think she will have nearly equal status with Gen. Jones, the new National Security Advisor, and Larry Summers, the head of Obama’s National Economic Council.  Climate change is certainly a security issue on any number of fronts and an economic issue - as we’ve long since come to realize.  There is no greater issue on the foreign policy front these days, either, including trade, terrorism, or development.  In fact, it impacts on all three.

In any event, there’s a ton of work to do for all these agencies and their new leadership.  See, for instance, Hard Task for New Team on Energy and Climate from the NYT yesterday.  Part of the task is going to be helping to move legislation through Congress and getting a good handle on the negotiations leading to Copenhagen next year.  The good news is that nearly everybody in leadership positions from the President to his top officials to Senate and House leaders and their committee chairs all seem to be in accord , on the urgency of climate change, the need to transition to a low-carbon world, and to boost the economy by making it more energy efficient across the board and by weaning us from the dire environmental problems caused or exacerbated by fossil fuel use.

Steven Chu is particularly interesting in this regard.  He appears to be genuinely passionate about moving to a low-carbon society and acutely aware of the dangers of global warming.  See excerpts from an NPR interview from last year and this from Joe Romm at The Gristmill.  Romm cites a recent WSJ blog item that references a rather salient quote from Chu:  “Coal is my worst nightmare.”  See also this important speech before the Copenhagen Climate Council last year in which Chu refers to climate change as a “clear and present danger.”

It’s fair to say that Obama has assembled a team highly capable of getting the job done on climate change and energy - and with the motivation to make it happen.

I’ve posted my thoughts on what’s happened this past year and what the tea leaves tell me for the coming year here:  2008 in Review.  Highlights?  Obama’s election and his intentions as exemplified in his policy pronouncements and his picks for top positions, more serious environmentalists in key slots on The Hill and a focus on getting key legislation done, a landmark agreement in the EU, considerable further progress toward a final international treaty, and stunning developments in the technology and deployment of renewables and energy efficient systems.  Take a look.  Let us know what you’ve been seeing and your predictions.