Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Obama appointments

President-elect Barack Obama just named his picks for the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture. Senator Ken Salazar and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack respectively. Brian Knowlton and Jeff Zeleny of the NY Times report:

As governor, Mr. Vilsack was a strong proponent of ethanol and wind energy, traveling the world in search of new markets and opportunities for American products.

Mr. Obama particularly praised Mr. Vilsack’s advocacy of biotech and his work to foster “an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat but the energy we use.”

Mr. Salazar, a former director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and state attorney general, has also been a proponent of renewable energy sources.

A farmer and rancher with deep roots in Colorado, he is known as a staunch conservationist and an opponent of developing oil shale on public lands. But some environmentalists are unhappy that Mr. Salazar has worked to allow more offshore oil exploration.

No comments: