Chicago, Dec. 16 : US President-elect Barack Obama on Monday announced his energy and environmental teams.

Steven Chu, who shared the Nobel Prize for physics 11 years ago, was tapped to be Obama''s secretary of the Department of Energy.

He is currently the head of the Berkeley National Laboratory and is a specialist in carbon-neutral energy sources.

Obama said Chu was "uniquely suited" to serve in his Cabinet.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama's choices to lead his climate and energy team were met with outright glee by an environmental community that has long lamented United States footdragging on climate change.

Though lacking the high profile of some of his other cabinet picks, the announcement Monday was viewed as a signal that Obama is serious about revamping the US response to global warming.

Obama named Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and leading voice on alternative energy, to head the Department of Energy.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that an internal review showed that his staff did not have "inappropriate" discussions with embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich about the naming a successor to the Senate.

After Blagojevich's arrest on corruption charges, Obama said last week that he was certain that his own staff did not discuss the vacant Senate seat with Blagojevich or any of the governor's aides, but promised a review of all contacts by his presidential transition team.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama named the key players of his energy and environmental team Monday, promising both to revive the struggling US economy and revamp the country's approach to global warming.

Obama named Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and leading voice on alternative energy, to head the Department of Energy.

He named Lisa Jackson, the New Jersey governor's chief of staff and a former leader of the state's climate policy, to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Washington  - While he may have been elected by US voters back in November, the process of formally naming president-elect Barack Obama to the post only began Monday.

State representatives from around the country gathered to cast their ballots under the country's complex Electoral College system.

Some 538 electoral votes are divided among the 50 US states according to their population size. Each presidential candidate is awarded a portion of those votes based on the results of the November 4 election.

According , Dec 15 : Senator John McCain has sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

McCain surprised his supporters, who fought for him through tough times during the race for the White House, Politico reported.

On ABC's "This Week," host George Stephanopoulos asked: "The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, were highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with the issue.