Illustration by Bruce Morser

Nominees for secretary of commerce usually glide through their Senate confirmation, without the political drama of, say, a potential Supreme Court justice. John Bryson was an exception.

After President Obama tapped the former utility executive to head the Commerce Department last May, Bryson drew fire from the far right for his history of environmental advocacy. Yet he was endorsed by key business groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which praised "his extensive knowledge of the private sector and years of experience successfully running a major company."

For five months, though, his nomination hung in the balance. One of his fiercest opponents, Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, assailed Obama for appointing a founder of "one of the most radical, left-wing, extreme environmental groups."

After graduating from Yale Law School in 1969, Bryson joined with John Adams and several other young attorneys to create the Natural Resources Defense Council. At a time when there was no such thing as environmental law, they saw a vital role for the courts in protecting our air, water, lands, and wildlife. Bryson left NRDC in 1974, but he has retained his commitment to defending public health and a clean environment.

Over the objections of Inhofe and 25 other Republicans, the Senate confirmed Bryson on October 20. After the vote, the president said, "John Bryson will be a key member of my economic team, working with the business community to promote job creation, foster growth, and help open up new markets around the world for American-made goods."

Sometimes called the nation's top salesman, the commerce secretary presides over a department with a $7.5 billion budget and 47,000 employees worldwide. The secretary promotes U.S. exports and ensures that imports comply with domestic law and international accords.

Bryson takes the helm amid the worst job market since Ronald Reagan was president, with 14 million Americans looking for work and the unemployment rate at 9 percent. That means job number one for Bryson will be helping to create jobs, by promoting American business at home and abroad and by supporting policies that help keep U.S. companies and workers competitive in the global marketplace.

The new commerce secretary knows how to recognize opportunity. He proved that during his 18-year tenure as chairman and chief executive officer of Edison International, the holding company that owns Southern California Edison. In 1990, when he assumed the top post, Bryson saw over the horizon to a future of increased electricity generation, not just by utilities but by their commercial and residential consumers as well. In California and in foreign countries from Italy to Indonesia, he helped develop cogeneration projects that let customers produce their own electricity -- from renewable sources like solar and wind or from waste heat -- that they can then use or sell to their utility company.

Bryson grasped the potential of renewable energy sources, which provided 16 percent of Southern California Edison's electricity mix by the time he left his position in 2008. He helped put the company on track to install "smart meters" in more than five million homes, where they can save consumers money and reduce the need to build new electricity-generating plants. Bryson, in short, understands that the key to creating jobs and spurring growth is to embrace the future and the opportunities it presents.

That's the challenge, writ large, we face as a nation as we struggle to regain our footing from the worst economic collapse since World War II. And that's the charge to Bryson as he takes the reins as our 37th secretary of commerce.