Barack Obama has announced his pick for Secretary of the Interior, Colorado Senator Ken Salazar.  The pick, should Salazar be approved by the United States Senate will install a firm conservationist at the Department of the Interior.  Mr. Salazar is both a farmer and rancher in Colorado and is known for his vocal opposition to the environmentally disastrous process of developing oil shale on public lands.  He also is known to wear a pretty cool looking cowboy hat as evidenced in the photo at left.

Salazar, who will oversee the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service, has publicly supported the goal of getting 25% of America’s energy from renewable resources by the year 2025.  Given that any serious push to expand America’s usage of renewable energy will require the opening of public lands in order to accommodate solar, wind and geothermal energy facilities, Ken Salazar seems to be just the right man to head up the Department of the Interior in the coming years.

You can takepart in promoting conservation throughout these beauiful United States by checking out the Sierra Club.

LINKS:

NY Times: A Conservationist for the Interior Dept.

LA Times:  Obama picks Salazar as Interior Secretary

CNNMoney: With Salazar as Interior Secretary, Obama’s Green Team Complete