It seems to us that President-elect Obama's nomination has led to many -- from environmentalists to oil and gas exectutives -- to take a wait and see attitude, sort of an environmental and regulatory adjunct to President Reagan's (and others, notably Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, builder of the Soviet Secret Police), "Trust but verify."
Here's a column making the point from, Anne Butterfield writing in the Boulder Daily Camera. Here's an excerpt:
As our new Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar will take a job that will test his fiber. He loves the Rockies and has protected Colorado's Roan Plateau from drilling. As a top water law expert, he has protected our state's water rights. Many champion his ability to protect our nation's resources which have been battered and insulted by the Bush Administration's campaign on behalf of industry.
However, Salazar does not have a spotless record. Along with voting against higher fuel efficiency for vehicles, he was also one of a handful of Democrats to vote against a bill that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider global warming when planning water projects -- two very weird votes in light of important threats.
We've written elsewhere that Salazar will not rope in all development in the name of the environment, nor will he back down to idealogues either. He will try to weigh the science and economic benefits before choosing a course.
Here's another column about Salazar from Dave Buchanan writing in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Mr Buchanan believes that hunters and fisherman will now have a sympathetic leader at Interior. He writes:
The best present outdoors enthusiasts received this Christmas was Ken Salazar's nomination for secretary of the interior. While no one expects Salazar to please every critic, and there already are some people complaining that President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Interior won't be tough enough, it's safe to say whatever Salazar accomplishes will be an immense improvement over the past eight years, which the Bush administration spent despoiling our natural resources.
From the view of a hunter, angler and wildlife enthusiast, it's difficult to find any cabinet post more critical to Colorado and the West than the Interior Department. If he's approved, the 53-year-old Alamosa native (his Colorado roots go back five generations) will be handed the reins to the wagon train encircling nearly every aspect of Colorado's environment and economy...
Salazar's knowledge of western issues, including such diverse issues as endangered species, grazing, energy development and off-road vehicle use, and the fact he's a conscientious centrist, has gained him praise from many corners, including those more interested in extraction than protection. Call it whistling in the dark if you like, but even the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, which hasn't always agreed with my stance on the helter-skelter nature of energy development across Western public lands, has indicated approval of Salazar's nomination, albeit for different reasons. "Senator Salazar will provide a strong Western voice and will play a pivotal role in meeting the emissions and increasing energy security," said IPAMS Executive Director Marc Smith. Smith goes on to say "there is a strong rationale for a consistent and responsible development on federal lands in the Intermountain West."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
"colorado water"
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