Susan Crabtree May 31, 2011, 11:46 AM

President Barack Obama plans to nominate businessman John Bryson to head the Commerce Department, according to a White House official.

Bryson’s name has been mentioned as a potential cabinet post since Obama won election in 2008. As a former chairman and CEO of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, and a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, he has straddled business and environmental activist circles. He also has served as a member of the United Nation’s advisory group on energy and climate change.

“Mr. Bryson will play a key role as a member of the President’s economic team, bringing decades of knowledge and experience in the public and private sectors, and will provide valuable ideas and initiatives to strengthen America’s competitiveness around the world,” said an administration official.

During his tenure serving as the head of the California Public Utilities Commission in the early 1990s, Bryson angered some in the environmental community by arguing against renewable construction projects and defending the state’s reliance on nuclear power.

If confirmed, Bryson would replace outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke who Obama tapped as the next ambassador to China.

“Mr. Bryson will play a key role as a member of the President’s economic team, bringing decades of knowledge and experience in the public and private sectors, and will provide valuable ideas and initiatives to strengthen America’s competitiveness around the world,” said an administration official.

Obama plans to announce Bryson’s nomination at the White House press Tuesday afternoon.

In addition to his experience as the top executive at Edison, which he left in 2008, Bryson is a director of The Boeing Company, The Walt Disney Company and Coda Automotive, Inc. and serves as chairman of the board the Public Policy Institute of California, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California Board of Overseers. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.

Barack Obama, Business, Commerce Department, Environment, Gary Locke, john bryson