Lobbying world

•Former Rep. Bob Edgar (D-Pa.), has been chosen by Common Cause’s governing board as its new president and chief executive. Edgar replaces Chellie Pingree, who left the public interest group in February to run for Rep. Tom Allen’s (D-Maine) congressional seat. Edgar formerly was general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

{mosads}•Mary Ellen Grant has been hired as the new public relations director for the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas. Grant is a former deputy communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce under then-chairman Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and also served as deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee during the 2004 presidential election.

•Strategic Federal Affairs has added three new lobbyists. Charles Yessaian, Rep. Joe Schawrz’s (R-Mich.) legislative director, has joined the firm’s Washington office as a senior associate. Colleen Pobur, a consultant for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s (D) campaign, will be a vice president. Lisa Nocerini, a top aide to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D), will also be vice president. The firm has also opened up a Lansing, Mich., office.

•Douglas Elmendorf will be a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Elmendorf, formerly a top economist at the Federal Reserve Board, has been a visiting fellow since December of last year. A former Harvard economics professor, Elmendorf also will be the Edward M. Bernstein scholar at Brookings.