OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (OneWorld.net) - Barack Obama has named a strong advocate of powerful action to confront global warming to head the White House Office of Science and Technology. John Holdren, of Harvard University, will also head the president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

John Holdren takes OneWorlders' questions from Second Life during last December's "Virtual Bali" program from the UN climate conference.Speaking to OneWorld from the global climate negotiations in Indonesia in December 2007, Holdren said: "I think the biggest obstacle to moving forward on the climate issue in the world today is the failure of the United States, up until now, to take serious steps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our own country."

"It's also important," Holdren added, "to cooperate with developing countries. It's important for a number of reasons, including the big opportunity for sharing insights and for sharing technology that can help address the climate change problem in ways that also pursue the goals of sustainable development." (Full video of that interview appears below.)

Here's how the Associated Press describes Holdren:

Holdren, 64, is a former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington who has pushed for more urgent action on global warming. As Obama's top science adviser, he would manage about 40 Ph.D-level experts who help shape and communicate science and technology policy.

Colleagues say the post is well-suited for Holdren, who at Harvard went from battling the spread of nuclear weapons to tackling the threat of global warming. He's an award-laden scientist comfortable in many different fields.

"Global warming is a misnomer. It implies something gradual, something uniform, something quite possibly benign, and what we're experiencing is none of those," Holdren said a year ago in a speech at Harvard. "There is already widespread harm...occurring from climate change. This is not just a problem for our children and our grandchildren."

Last December, Holdren took questions about his views on climate change and U.S. responsibilty on the issue from viewers taking part in OneWorld's pioneering "Virtual Bali" event, which opened a window on the UN climate negotiations to people across the planet.

The video of that discussion can be seen here, in three parts:

Part I:

Part II:

Part III: