Obama to name Browner as energy coordinator

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will appoint former environmental protection agency chief Carol Browner to a new position coordinating energy, climate and environmental issues, a Democratic aide said on Wednesday.

Obama, who has said energy and environment issues would be important to his administration, is closing in on choosing the team that will oversee them all. Earlier in the day a Democratic official said Obama had chosen Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles, to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

(Reporting by Deborah Charles; editing by David Alexander)