Issa blasts Commerce nominee as 'green evangelist'

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) blasted President Obama on Tuesday for nominating John Bryson to be the next Commerce secretary, calling the decision "deeply out-of-touch with our current energy challenge."

Issa said Bryson is a "green evangelist" and took aim at the long-time energy company CEO for co-founding the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environmental group.

"With gas prices at nearly four dollars a gallon, it’s certainly eye-catching that President Obama has nominated a founder of an organization that opposes efforts to increase domestic oil production to serve as the nation’s key advocate for our economic interests," Issa said in a statement. "The nomination of John Bryson to lead the Department of Commerce seems deeply out-of-touch with our current energy challenge."

Obama touted Bryson's clean-energy credentials earlier Tuesday.

"Throughout a distinguished career in which he’s led nonprofits, government agencies, and large companies, he’s been a fierce proponent of alternative energy," Obama said. 

Bryson has spent much of his career in the energy sector.

He served as CEO of Edison International, a California-based electric power generator, for 18 years; he is board chairman of BrightSource Energy, a California-based solar company; and he spent years working on energy and water issues in California in the 1970s and 1980s.

The nomination of Bryson sets up a showdown between the White House and the GOP on trade.

Senate Republicans warned Tuesday that Bryson’s nomination would be stuck until the administration sends Congress legislation implementing three trade deals, with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

Here's more on Bryson's energy and environmental sector experience.