From the
Washington Post Wonk Book
Obama picked businessman John Bryson as his new Commerce Secretary, reports Zachary Goldfarb: “President Obama on Tuesday nominated former electric utility executive John E. Bryson as his next Commerce secretary. ... Bryson spent nearly two decades as the head of the largest utility in North America, Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, and today serves as a senior adviser to the private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts. He also is a director of Boeing and Walt Disney, a former energy regulator in California and a noted environmentalist who co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council...Senate Republicans immediately vowed Tuesday to block the nomination in
a dispute with Obama and Senate Democrats over outstanding free-trade agreements."
RTT News reports:
Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, the Ranking Member of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee, said, "By selecting John Bryson to head the Department of Commerce, President Obama is clearly demonstrating that he has no intention of backing down from his job-killing agenda."
"In fact, it is understandable that President Obama would select John Bryson as his nominee: he is a founder of a radical environmental organization and a member of a United Nations advisory group on climate change," he added.
Noting that Bryson once called the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill "moderate," Inhofe claimed that the legislation would cost American taxpayers billions of dollars, destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs, and raise
energy prices.
Forbes.com says:
67 Years Old
Mr. Bryson has served since August 2008 as Senior Advisor to KKR (private equity). He served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Edison International (electric power generator and distributor), the parent company of Southern California Edison, from October 1990 to July 2008. Mr. Bryson also serves on the board of The Walt Disney Company. He is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology, a director of the W.M. Keck Foundation and The California Endowment, and Chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Lets consider that this guy served as CEO of Edison International during the time that California was being ripped off for electricity by Enron in Texas. How did that turn out? Enron and PG&E file for bankruptcy and Mr. Bryson served several more years in as head of the largest utility in the US. Inhofe calls him a radical because he also founded the Natural Resources Defence Council.
A press release at the NRDC says of Bryson:
Washington (May 31, 2011) -- The following is a statement by Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, on the nomination of John Bryson to be the next Commerce Secretary:
"As one of the founders of NRDC, John Bryson is a visionary leader in promoting a clean environment and a strong economy. He has compiled an exemplary record in public service and in business that underscores the strong linkage between economic and environmental progress.
"John has long recognized the benefits of efficiency and renewable energy technologies, and he understands the critical need for us to continue investing in them.
"We look forward to working with John at the Commerce Department and with the rest of the Obama Administration in moving toward that brighter and more prosperous America. We also look forward to John’s leadership on the critical issues facing our oceans and coasts."