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Who should lead the Department of the Interior in the early days of President-Elect Obama's administration? The new head of Interior will be adminstering policy over water supplies, oil and gas development, oil shale, coal, solar, wind, recreation, wilderness, endangered species, water quality and water distribution.
Interior oversees the operations of numerous federal agencies. Here's the list:
Bureau of Reclamation
National Park Service
Bureau of Land Management
U.S. Geological Survey
Minerals Management Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Office of Surface Mining
Colorado's own Ken Salazar was named as a possible candidate for the Interior job and he's saying that he will press Obama to name a Westerner.
The editors of In These Times are pushing Susan Williams. Here's the writeup from Winona LaDuke from the article 22 to know:
The most serious challenge facing the new secretary of interior will be the bureaucratic mayhem that politicians have created. Worse, many of these lawmakers still fail to recognize Native people as part of true sovereign nations, especially in relation to the United States.
Susan M. Williams — a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota tribe - would help untangle this mess. Her commitment to the environment and her involvement in civic affairs make her an excellent choice for the post.
After getting a degree from Harvard Law School (and working there as a lecturer), Williams worked in firms committed to Native law and served on boards that focus on improving relations between the federal government and tribes.
Typically, the Interior Department oversees efforts to uphold treaty rights and agreements with the federal government. What’s at stake for Native people is the right to live on healthy land, have access to clean water and maintain control over their natural resources. The department also assists Indigenous tribes in creating a sustainable future for themselves.Williams lobbied for amendments that affected tribes’ water rights and tax status.
Add to this résumé Williams’ membership in various bar associations — the American Bar Association, District of Columbia Bar, New Mexico Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar — and she couldn’t be better qualified for the position.
The Westerner is pointing to the Washington Post article where they report that, "David Hayes, a deputy secretary at the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton, has been tapped to oversee Obama's transition at the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department, according to a source close to the transition."
Here's the link to the transition website.
The Denver Post editors are recommending a candidate that will take an approach that is more cautious about oil and gas development than the last two in that position, Norton and Kempthorne.
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