"President Barack Obama intends to nominate air quality expert Gina McCarthy to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz to head the Department of Energy as early as this week, according to a source familiar with the process."

"McCarthy would likely become the face of Obama's latest push to fight climate change. Currently the assistant administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, she would replace Lisa Jackson, who stepped down as EPA chief this month.

Moniz, a former undersecretary of energy during the Clinton administration, is director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP, Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

Moniz would replace Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, who is stepping down.

The source said announcements of the two nominations were possible this week but were more likely to come later.

McCarthy has the respect of environmental groups and a reputation for working well with utilities and state regulators, which bear the brunt of implementing EPA rules.

But she will face tough questions from Republican lawmakers who believe the EPA has gone too far in its rules, which they argue have hurt the economy."

Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton report for Reuters February 20, 2013. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Obama Tipped To Pick Veterans To Lead Climate, Energy Push" (Bloomberg) [3]