The Bush administration announced yesterday that the president will nominate coal and energy industry lobbyist J. Steven Griles to serve as second-in-command at the Interior Department. Griles first got to know Interior Secretary Gale Norton when both worked at the Interior Department during the Reagan era; back then, Griles helped oversee mining and water issues. Most recently, he has been found lobbying for such clients as the National Mining Association, Occidental Petroleum, and the Edison Electric Institute. Enviros had been hoping that John Turner, who headed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during Bush the Elder’s administration and now leads the Conservation Fund, would get the nod for deputy Interior secretary.
