John Bryson, a Yale Law School graduate and former chair, CEO and president of Edison International, has been nominated by President Obama to succeed Gary Locke as the US secretary of commerce.
Bryson is a member of the board of directors of Walt Disney Co, Boeing, Coda Automotive Inc, WM Keck Foundation, and California Endowment. He served as legal counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit organisation he helped found with other recent Yale Law School graduates.
Some Republican Congressmen already have said they disagreed with Bryson’s nomination, calling his stance on environmental issues radical. Bryson has advocated solar energy and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Darrell Issa, a representative in California, recently told The New York Times that Bryson’s nomination “seems deeply out-of-touch with our current energy challenge”.
James Inhofe, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, told the Times he would be “working actively” to dispute his nomination.
Locke left his post after he was named the US ambassador to China.
