President-elect Barack Obama announced his nominees (Bloomberg) for energy secretary, Environmental Protection Agency chief, and head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality at a press conference in Chicago on Monday. The Los Angeles Times looks at reactions to the picks among scientists and environmental groups.

GLOBAL HEALTH: A report from the Washington-based nonprofit Institute of Medicine released Monday recommended that Obama double U.S. health aid to poor countries by 2012 and appoint a White House global health czar.