Bryson tapped to head Commerce Department

WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday he intends to nominate John Bryson, a businessman and U.N. climate adviser, as commerce secretary.

The White House said Bryson will play a key role as a member of the president's economic team.

"I am pleased to nominate John Bryson to be our nation's secretary of commerce, as he understands what it takes for America to succeed in a 21st century global economy," Obama said in a statement.

Bryson will continue the department's mission to drive U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace, strengthen the international economic position of the United States and facilitate global trade by opening up new markets for U.S. goods and services, the White House said. Bryson also will lead the ongoing effort to meet the president's goal of doubling America's exports.

Bryson was chairman and chief executive officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison and Edison Mission Group, from 1990 to 2008. He is a director of the Boeing Co., the Walt Disney Co. and Coda Automotive Inc. and is a senior adviser to KKR.

Bryson also is chairman of the board of BrightSource Energy, the Public Policy Institute of California and the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California Board of Overseers, and serves as co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

In addition, Bryson previously served on a number of educational and environmental boards, including as chairman of the California Business Roundtable, co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association trustee of Stanford University and as a member of the U.N. secretary-general's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change.