Senate Panel Approves Obama’s Choice for Interior Dept.
Source: NY Times
President Obama nominated Ms. Jewell, 57, currently chief executive of Recreational Equipment Inc. in Seattle, to replace the outgoing Interior secretary, Ken Salazar, a former Democratic senator from Colorado.
The committee’s senior Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, announced her support for Ms. Jewell Thursday morning after a meeting on Wednesday in which Mr. Salazar told her the agency would reconsider a decision to block construction of an airport access road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in a remote corner of southwest Alaska. He committed Ms. Jewell to follow through on the pledge.
Other Republicans on the committee said that Ms. Jewell’s willingness to seek a range of opinions on the Alaska wilderness issue and other natural resources questions was sufficient to win their support.
Senator James Risch, Republican of Idaho, voted to send the nomination to the full Senate but reserved the right to place a hold on the vote if demands by Western lawmakers to keep the sage grouse, a pheasant-like prairie bird, off the endangered species list are not met. Farmers, ranchers and oil prospectors in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Colorado oppose listing the sage grouse because it would put hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands off limits to commercial and agricultural development.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/us/senate-panel-approves-sally-jewell-for-interior-dept-post.html
i think i like her, so far?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I guess it hasn't got to that point, yet. I'll be worried, though, if it doesn't happen. 