Tough job ahead for secretary Salazar

Last September, Congress was given three reports from the Dept. of Interior that outlined how the Minerals Management Service, a division of the Dept. of Interior that grants offshore oil leases and collects royalties for the benefit of the taxpayers, was steeped in corruption. Interior officials steered government contracts to favored clients often providing oil company executives with drugs and sex. “Short of a crime,” Earl Devaney, Interior’s inspector general told Congress, “it’s anything goes at the Dept. of Interior.” Devaney also outlined how on 15 occasions, political appointees to Interior had weakened protections on endangered species and environmentally protected public lands. One Interior official violated federal law by leaking internal agency documents to industry lobbyists, which was revealed during the hearings.

Such is the Interior department that Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar will inherit next year.

In vetting Sen. Salazar, the New York Times published a report in how Sen. Salazar had “no baggage” politically, unlike some of the other Barack Obama appointees; in that Salazar, a rancher, water attorney and former Colorado secretary of state, has as history of measured response, compromise and leadership to groups engaged in land issues: ranchers, drilling companies, environmentalists. Reconciling and mediating these interests will be challenging, as they have always been with an agency that has been historically politicized like the Dept. of Interior.

Sen. Salazar, 53, is from the San Luis Valley will be in the cabinet of the 44th president. (Gale Norton, another Coloradoan served in the Bush Administration, 2001-2006 as Interior secretary.)  He is respected by Senate colleagues since winning in 2004. His qualifications are outstanding and few will quibble with his resume. We believe he will sail through the Senate confirmation process and will provide a voice for the West and Colorado.