Salazar Becomes Secretary of Interior

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/12/15/daily32.html

From Denver Business Journal:

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Salazar accepts Interior nomination

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar on Wednesday accepted President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination to become the next secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Salazar is a Democrat who has represented Colorado in the Senate since 2005.

In accepting the nomination, Salazar said he “will do all I can to help reduce America’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”

He also said:

“I look forward to working directly with President-Elect Obama as an integral part of his team as we take the moon shot on energy independence.

“That energy imperative will create jobs here in America, protect our national security, and confront the dangers of global warming.

“I look forward to helping build our clean energy economy, modernize our interstate electrical grid, and ensure that we are making wise use of our conventional natural resources, including coal, oil, and natural gas.

“I look forward to protecting our national parks, public lands and open spaces, and America’s farm and ranchlands.

“I look forward to restoring our Nation’s rivers and working to resolve our water supply challenges.

“I look forward to helping to address the challenges faced by our Native American communities across the Nation.

“And I look forward to investing in America’s young people by implementing President-Elect Obama’s vision for youth programs across America.”

Obama had this to say about Salazar:

“Ken will bring to the Department of the Interior an abiding commitment to this land we love. His family has farmed and ranched the same land in Colorado for five generations. As a senator from the great state of Colorado, he has been a champion for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities -— from building a clean energy economy to setting aside 250,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness.

“Before serving in the United States Senate, Ken was attorney general in Colorado, where he worked on a number of land, water, and environmental issues. As a water lawyer for a decade, Ken was also chosen to lead Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources. In that role, he promoted responsible water management, balanced use of our energy resources, and built one of the most successful land conservation efforts in the nation.

“Few are better equipped to meet the energy and natural resource challenges we face in the 21st century. Among the many responsibilities Ken will bear as our next secretary of the Interior is helping ensure that we finally live up to the treaty obligations that are owed to the First Americans. We need more than just a government-to-government relationship; we need a nation-to-nation relationship. And Ken and I will work together to make sure that tribal nations have a voice in this administration.”

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter praised Obama's choice, and said he would "work thoughtfully, deliberately and quickly to identify a successor to Sen. Salazar. With the economy in crisis and many other important issues facing the next Congress and the new Obama administration, Colorado must have the best talent at the U.S. Capitol.”