The Washington Post reports F. Chase Hutto III, a senior aide to Vice President Cheney, is the leading contender to become a top official at the Energy Department. The promotion would put one of the administration’s most ardent opponents of environmental regulation in charge of forming department policies on climate change. Officials say Hutto has played a prominent behind-the-scenes role in shaping the administration’s environmental policies for several years and has been one of the oil and gas industry’s key points of contact for energy and environmental issues.