Obama turns focus to energy, agriculture, trade

US President-elect Barack Obama speaks as he presents his choices for his newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board during a news conference in Chicago November 26, 2008.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama shifts his focus to the second half of his White House Cabinet next week with decisions pending in the high-profile areas of energy, the environment, trade and agriculture.

Obama, who takes over for President George W. Bush on January 20, has already put his economic and national security team in place, but has made it clear that other areas -- especially climate change policy -- will be priorities too.

Officials within his transition team have kept quiet about a handful of names making the rounds for each of those posts.

Obama will hold a news conference on Sunday, the anniversary of Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War Two, to discuss "the contributions of those that have served our nation," his office said in a statement.

He is also to appear on a Sunday television news program where he may be asked about plans for further appointments.

One important supporter during Obama's campaign, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, is a top contender for an administration post, possibly as energy or agriculture secretary.

"Governor Sebelius is honored to be mentioned as a potential secretary and will do whatever she can to help the Obama administration," her spokeswoman said in an e-mail, declining to comment on "hypothetical" jobs.

The popular Democratic governor, who was on Obama's short list of potential vice presidential picks earlier this year, has made a big push for renewable energy in Kansas, setting a target for 20 percent of the state's energy needs to be met with wind by 2020.

Obama has promised to increase U.S. use of renewable energy sources in order to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers of oil.

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

Industry sources said Dan Reicher, climate director at Google.org and a former Energy Department official in President Bill Clinton's administration, was also a strong contender for energy secretary.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, he declined to address his prospects but said he enjoyed being on Obama's transition team.

Another observer said John Podesta, Clinton's White House chief of staff and now co-chair of Obama's transition team, may also be in consideration for energy secretary or climate "czar," a White House position being created by Obama to spearhead climate change policy.

Carol Browner, who was administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under Clinton and currently leads Obama's energy and environment task force, is a top contender for the climate chief position, said one source with knowledge of the process, adding a decision was expected in the coming weeks.

The source said vetting for those positions was not completed and Obama officials were still working out how a climate official in the White House would affect the roles of other policy players.

Names mentioned for EPA administrator include Lisa Jackson, who has served as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection in New Jersey, and Mary Nichols, an assistant administrator for the EPA under Clinton.

In the area of trade, Obama met on Thursday with California Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra to discuss the job of chief trade negotiator, a Democratic source said.

Becerra, who has a record of caution on international trade agreements, would be the first Hispanic to hold the job.

Two other Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives, John Salazar of Colorado and Sanford Bishop of Georgia, along with Sebelius, are the top candidates for agriculture secretary, according to two farm lobbyists who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden announced he had chosen Jared Bernstein as his chief economist and economic policy adviser.

Bernstein served as deputy chief economist for the Department of Labor from 1995 to 1996.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Tom Doggett, Ayesha Rascoe, and Charles Abbott; Editing by Jackie Frank and Peter Cooney)