The White House says President Barack Obama will talk about energy and climate change during a visit next Friday to Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago.

The White House announced the trip on Friday after revealing that Obama had discussed these issues a day earlier during a private meeting with business leaders and others from the clean energy industry.

Obama has signaled a desire to tackle climate change during his second term.

He made his intent clear earlier this week by choosing Gina McCarthy, a 25-year veteran of environmental policy and politics, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Argonne National Laboratory is one of the Department of Energy's largest national laboratories for scientific and engineering research, staffed by more than 1,250 scientists and engineers.