The Obama administration has hired a Washington-based venture capitalist to speed its efforts to choose alternative-energy companies and car makers that will win loan money and loan guarantees from the federal government. The appointment of Jonathan Silver -- managing general partner of Core Capital Partners, an investor in alternative energy, advanced manufacturing, telecommunications and software companies -- makes him the latest in a growing roster of venture capitalists in positions of influence at the Department of Energy. The agency has become a potentially huge source of capital for companies in the renewable-energy industry, many of them relatively small companies that have been battered by the recent turmoil in the credit and private-equity markets. Some renewable-energy trade groups have complained the Energy Department isn't moving fast enough to fund projects. - Steve Woda