Subject: Diverse "green" candidates
From: "Carol Browner" <[email-masked]>
To: "Froman, Michael B " <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:41:42 -0400

Michael -below are some recommendations from the "green group"
representatives Kevin Knobloch and Frances Beinecke.   I suspect the
names in the first two groups have already come across your desk.  The
"diverse" candidates,  with the exception of Edward Miles, are all folks
I know and of high regard for.  Carol

 

Environmental posts

Mary Nichols is likely already at the top of your lists, but Frances and
I want to underscore that she'd be a tremendous EPA Administrator, as
well as great in other cabinet and subcabinet roles.  She's tough, smart
and enormously capable, and has done in California that we want to
accomplish at the federal level.

Science advisor

Our top choices are well known to the campaign: John Holdren (Harvard),
Harold Varmus (Sloan-Kettering), Rosina Bierbaum (University of
Michigan) and Pam Matson (Stanford).  These are top tier scientists who
would restore credibility, professionalism and skill to the OSTP; all of
them would be fabulous in a number of other roles as well.

Diverse candidates

Dr. Edward Miles, Professor of Marine & Public Affairs & Senior Fellow,
Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Oceans (JISAO),
University of Washington.  Member of the National Academy of Sciences;
was an author of the IPCC assessments.  Very highly regarded in the
science community.  Ed's specialty is oceans, and he'd be a fabulous
pick for NOAA or other roles related to oceans, marine resources and
international engagement.

Dr. Stephen Chu, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and
professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at University of
California, Berkeley.  Winner of the Nobel prize, Dr. Chu is a giant in
the science community who commands deep respect from his peers, deftly
manages a complex governmental organization, and has a keen sense of
public service.

Dr. Michel Gelobter, Executive Director of Redefining Progress, Oakland,
CA.  Michel has done a great job making the case for shifting the
economy and public policy towards sustainability, and is well respected
by much of the environmental justice community.  He has extensive
experience as an academic, activist and administrator, including serving
as a professor in the Graduate Department of Public Administration at
Rutgers University, founding CAPE or Community/Academic Partnership for
the Environment, a regional research entity spanning NJ, NY and Puerto
Rico, and starting the Environmental Policy Program at Columbia
University's School of International and Public Affairs.  He was
Director of Environmental Quality for the City of New York, an Assistant
Commissioner for its Department of Environmental Protection, and
environmental and health issues director during David Dinkins'
successful mayoral campaign.

Sheila Jasanoff, professor of Science and Technology Studies at Harvard
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has held academic
positions at Cornell, Yale, Oxford, and Kyoto.  Her research concerns
the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and public
policy of modern democracies, with a particular focus on the challenges
of globalization. She has written, lectured and published widely on
problems of environmental regulation, risk management, and biotechnology
in the United States, Europe, and India.  

Dr. Kenneth Olden, former director of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health and the
National Toxicology Program (the first African-American to become
Director of one of the 18 institutes).  A cell biologist and biochemist
by training, and has been active in cancer research for three decades.
Hard to find someone more capable and respected in the medical and
public health communities.

Van Jones, founder of Green for All and senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress.  You know him well, so I won't say much more than he
is very impressive and a highly effective voice for, among other things,
creating opportunities in the green economy for poor communities and
communities of color. 

Additional ideas

Dr. Joanne Fox-Przeworski, former director of UNEP for North America and
Former head of Bard College Graduate Environmental Policy Program.  Now
a consultant. Based in NYC and Hastings on Hudson, an economist by
training.

Dr. DeAndra Beck, former USDA and Forest Service, most recently in the
Millenium Challenge Corporation, trained as a molecular biologist.

Dr. Rita Klees, formerly with World Bank Environmental Program, engineer
by training, worked on water issues, now teaching at University of
Colorado.

Dan Kammen, a physicist at Berkeley who specializes in energy solutions,
has advised the campaign.  He's energetic and smart, has an
interdisciplinary flair.  He founded the the Renewable and Appropriate
Energy Laboratory at Berkeley.