After years of suffering through an administration that at its best saw the stewardship of our natural world as a burden and at its worst actually appeared to seek to destroy it, (also see here, and there are plenty of other instances to be found if you care to poke around) a new green team in D.C. can be nothing but an improvement. Nowhere to go but up, as they say.

So just what heights can we expect Obama’s environmental watchdogs to reach? Looking at the appointees, there would seem to be reason for optimism:

Steven Chu, energy secretary
The 60-year-old director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab is a longtime advocate for alternative energy. He won the physics Nobel in 1997 while a professor at Stanford University. His experience reveals him to be a scientist through and through, compelled not by partisanship but by a search for truth.
Compare that to outgoing Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who hadn’t been active in science for 30-plus years when he was surprisingly appointed in 2005. He’s more a big biz guy, said by some to be there simply as a White House (read: Cheney) puppet.

Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator

The former head of New Jersey's environmental department was behind the state’s stricter chemical-safety regulations, and is said to have been a driving force in the state’s aggressive energy plan. She has taken some flak for being seen as not strict enough on hazardous cleanups.

Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change
In the unprecedented role everyone’s calling "energy czar," Browner may end up serving as sort of a political yin to Chu’s scientific yang. She knows how to be a bureaucrat, having spent more time as EPA chief than anyone else, and is tight with Al Gore. She shapes up to be the Yoda of the group – someone the others will look to for guidance. Among her accomplishments: She kick-started the Everglades cleanup, helped enact pesticide regulations and fought soot and smog.

Perhaps the surest sign we’re headed in the right direction? Check out the reaction of Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe (he of the No. 1 status on the League of Conservation Voters’ “Dirty Dozen” list).