Obama's new science adviser is a guy who built his career on anti-science skepticism...

In his salad days, Holdren was a paid-up member of The Limits to Growth club. For example, in his 1971 Sierra Club book, Energy: A Crisis in Power, Holdren declared that "it is fair to conclude that under almost any assumptions, the supplies of crude petroleum and natural gas are severely limited. The bulk of energy likely to flow from these sources may have been tapped within the lifetime of many of the present population."... Near the beginning of his career, Holdren introduced with his colleague, perennial population alarmist Paul Ehriich, the concept of the I=PAT equation... All of which are supposed to intensify and worsen humanity's impact on the natural world. In the past Holdren has adhered to the common ecologist's disdain for insights from economics in helping solve environmental problems... Holdren and his co-authors later acknowledge ecological ignorance about the principles of economics, but don't express any urgency in learning about them.

... and his new Labor Secretary is deep in the pocket of anti-trade unions:

The New York Times takes an insightful look at Mrs Solis's stances on unions and international trade, as they contrast with those of Ron Kirk, the incoming trade representative. Harold Meyerson, the New Dealer Washington Post columnist and American Prospect editor, gives away the game: she won her 2000 election with the support of the AFL-CIO, and "she’s in the key position to promote the Employee Free Choice Act", the law that will make it easier for workers to organise by expanding their options beyond a secret ballot.

Here's the AP writeup about the Solis selection. The phrase you're looking for is "shows how committed Obama is to... card-check legislation." So maybe I was too hasty to assume that there's some contradiction between her and "Labor." Too bad the Department isn't called "the Productive Labor Department" or something similar. Then the joke would've worked.

What's next? An envoy to Israel who can't get along with Israelis? If the left was going to pull this nonsense they could at least have spared us the years of "but Bolton hates the UN" histrionics.

References:
* John Holdren to be Obama's Science Advisor [Reason Hit And Run]
* Smug Liberal Sophistication Undisturbed By Decades Of Disastrously Wrong Domestic And International Predictions [MR]
* Immigrant's daughter Solis to lead Labor Dept [AP]
* Israeli Officials: Hey, Do You Think That Maybe Obama's Going To Detonate The US-Israel Relationship? [MR]
* Nuts and Bolton [Steyn]

Previously:
* Obama Ignores Top Government Military Expert On Key National Security Question. Again.
* Former Peace Process Diplomats To Obama: Renewed Peace Process Guaranteed To Fail
* Obama To Gay Rights Progressives: Drop Dead