First Lady Senator Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did something pretty awesome on Monday when she announced that she is naming a special envoy to lead American efforts to fight global warming. I didn’t even know that was something the Secretary of State could do, but I’m going to go with it, because it seems to be a pretty sweet idea.

Todd Sterns is Clinton’s pick to be said special envoy, and he served under President Clinton as a senior White House official (this gets pretty confusing pretty quickly if you’re not exactly the sharpest spoon in the drawer (read: I am confusing myself as I type this)). And we have video of the ceremony!

Let’s pull a quote from Reuters and see what Clinton (Secretary of State, not President) has to say about her appointment (of Sterns as special envoy, not her specific appointment to Secretary of State (are you as confused as me yet?)) in case you didn’t watch the above video:

With the appointment today of a special envoy we are sending an unequivocal message that the United States will be energetic, focused, strategic and serious about addressing global climate change and the corollary issue of clean energy.

Oh, also, Sterns acted as the senior White House negotiator for the Kyoto talks on climate change from 1997 - 1999. And then, “From 1999 to 2001, Stern advised the U.S. Treasury secretary on economic and financial issues and supervised the department’s anti-money laundering strategy. He is a partner in a Washington law firm and a senior fellow at Center for American Progress think tank.” So, yeah, he’s envoyed for all sorts of things for all sorts of Clintons. That might be the easiest way to say it.

takepart with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with whom we can be sure Sterns will be working.