(MCT) WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama turned to experienced political hands Monday to fill his Cabinet, choosing a high-ranking official at the Environmental Protection Agency as the nation’s top clean air and water watchdog, and a veteran of the Clinton administration as his energy secretary.

Gina McCarthy, currently an assistant administrator in charge of air and radiation, would replace Lisa Jackson, the well-liked but controversial EPA leader in Obama’s first term. Obama tapped Ernest Moniz, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to replace Steven Chu at the Department of Energy. Both must be confirmed by the Senate.