Department of Interior
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Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar picked to head Interior Department
Ken Salazar. Photo: Mike Disharoon Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of interior, rounding out the energy and environment team formally introduced by President-elect Barack Obama on Monday afternoon. The Obama camp has not officially announced the pick, but transition officials have confirmed it. Salazar has served in the […]
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Obama’s Interior pick still up in the air; Salazar and Berry cited as top contenders
Barack Obama is scheduled to officially announce his key energy and environmental appointments today at 5 p.m. EST, but one important spot is likely to remain unfilled for a few more days: secretary of the interior. Early on, it seemed like Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva was the likely pick. But sources close to the transition […]
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Tribal leaders converge on Denver to protest Black Mesa project
It looks like another rushed “midnight regulation” from the Department of the Interior may be issued in favor of Peabody Coal, and the Navajo and Hopi people of Black Mesa are trying to stop it. A large delegation has traveled to Denver to meet with top officials in the Office of Surface Mining and hold […]
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Rumors fly about who Obama will tap for Interior Secretary
Buzz in Washington right now is that the Obama transition team is considering two new candidates for Secretary of the Interior: Kevin Gover and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.). Most speculation last week focused on Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), but these new names appear to be high on the list as well. The transition team […]
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The Black Mesa nightmare returns
For the sake of a deliberate and balanced approached to mining, indigenous rights, and environmental concerns, let’s hope U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva takes the reins at the Department of the Interior in Obama’s administration. Take this week’s startling announcement that the George W. Bush administration might quietly give the green light to reopening the scandalous […]
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Bush administration moves to allow guns in national parks and wildlife refuges
The Department of the Interior on Friday announced a final rule that will allow visitors to carry loaded and concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. The previous rules, put in place in the early ’80s under President Reagan, allowed firearms in parks as long as they were unloaded and stored somewhere that wasn’t […]
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The green scoop on Obama’s Cabinet and administration picks and prospects
Lisa Jackson. EPA Administrator: Lisa Jackson (not officially announced) Background on Jackson. Some enviros have been critical of Jackson — get the story. Steven Chu. Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu (not officially announced) Background on Chu. Watch Chu talk about climate change and renewable energy. Carol Browner. Energy Czar: Carol Browner (not officially announced) Background […]
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Feds will designate critical habitat for polar bears
The U.S. government will designate critical habitat for polar bears off Alaska’s coast as part of a partial settlement of a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The Interior Department declared polar bears a threatened species in May, but neglected to make any stipulations for habitat […]
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Interior Department joins Big Oil and Big Fish
If you thought their parties were kinky, get this: those wacky kids over at the Department of the Interior have figured how to please their special friends in the oil business and boost the factory fish-farming industry in one swoop. Writing on Ethicurean, Elanor Starmer reports that the Interior department’s Minerals Management Services is pushing […]
