by The Associated Press
Carol Browner, President Obama's top energy and climate change adviser, is departing, two White House officials said Monday.
Browner, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator under President Clinton, will be leaving the White House just as Republicans in Congress prepare to take on the Obama administration over global warming and the administration's response to the massive Gulf oil spill.
Browner successfully helped negotiate a deal with automakers boosting federal fuel economy standards and requiring the first-ever greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles. She also pushed for billions of dollars for renewable energy in the economic stimulus bill.
But the administration fell short on it key domestic priority of passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill to place a firm limit on pollution blamed for global warming. Just after the November elections, which gave Republicans a majority of seats in the House, Obama admitted the legislation was dead.
One White House official said Browner was "confident that the mission of her office will remain critical to the president." The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Browner was "pleased" with the clean energy commitment Obama would lay out in his State of the Union address Tuesday and in his budget request.
