Obama May Tap a Strong Progressive to Manage Our Wilderness

[Ichingcarpenter]

Of all the candidates being vetted by the Obama transition team for this complex and challenging responsibility, none can match the unique qualifications of Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ). Grijalva, who was the leading voice denouncing this week's most recent giveaway to mining companies by the Bush Administration, will bring urgently needed balance and poise to a federal land management bureaucracy that has pushed we the people into dangerous disequilibrium with the land we live on- and love. Appointing Grijalva, who was elected Co-Chair the Congressional Progressive Caucus, will also bring much-needed political balance to the Obama cabinet than some of the Republican-lite Democrats also being considered for the DOI post like California Blue Dog Democrat, Mike Thompson.

Like almost all of the previous Secretaries of the Interior, Grijalva hails from the West, more specifically Arizona, where his 7th Congressional district seat has provided him with the kind of experience and leadership we will need in a DOI Secretary.

Grijalva's willingness to reverse the values and practices instituted by the Bush Administration's Department of the Interior are well-illustrated by his leadership of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee of the 110th Congress. Most recently, he spearheaded efforts to stop the planned re-mining of the Black Mesa, located in northern Arizona. In a recent letter to current DOI Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Grijalva called on the Bush Administration to restore some semblance of the natural balance between the diverse interests DOI must manage. "Mining at Black Mesa has caused springs on Hopi lands to dry up and jeopardized the sole source of drinking water for many Hopis and Navajos."

This same will to balance informs National Landscape Conservation System, and the Environment Congressional Task Force Co-Chair Grijalva's efforts to craft urgently needed legislation to reform the very outdated General Mining Law of 1872. Environmentalists, scientists and other advocates believe this law must be changed if the wilderness of the west and of our national parks, forests and public lands systems are to return to sustainability. Such actions have secured very strong support for Grijalva's DOI bid from environmental, scientific and other groups, including the National Conservation Association, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and the U.S. Humane Society, to name a few. A letter to President-elect Obama in support of Grijalva was signed by more than 50 prominent scholars specializing in biology, conservation and other disciplines. In the letter, the scholars called him a "broad thinker" and praised the Congressman's "Report on the Bush Administration Assault on Our National Parks, Forests and Public Lands" as the work of "someone who understands and values science.">>>>>>>snip


http://www.alternet.org/environment/110530/obama_may_tap_a_strong_progressive_to_manage_our_wilderness/?page=2



Sounds good to me, I'm glad he's in the running.

[silverweb]

1. Excellent.

Sounds good to me, too.

[pinto]

2. Saw this noted yesterday. A great choice, I think. And he comes well vetted, on enviro issues.

:kick:

[brianna69]

3. He would be a fantastic choice.

Big thumbs up!

[BrklynLiberal]

4. THAT IS GREAT NEWS!!!!