Secretary of the Interior. Who will Obama pick?

[Cleita]

I can't find anywhere that this is being discussed, let alone candidates vetted. I'm a person who loves wild America and has seen the destruction done to its forests, rivers and lakes in the name of commerce and development first hand. To me this is the most serious cabinet post of all of them. Will he appoint someone who will change the course that has been taken in the last eight years? Will he put someone in charge who will protect our wilderness areas, federal lands and national parks? Any ideas on who might be on his radar? Whom do you want? I would like Bobby Kennedy, Jr. a man with the passion to protect our lands and the lawyer chops to fight the destructive commercial interests that are destroying our wilderness.

[MNDemNY]

1. Rue Paul.

[zorahopkins]

35. Do You Mean RuPaul?

She *ould be FAB U LOUS!



Note: In protest of the continuing occupation of OUR *hite House by the illegal and totally corrupt Bush/Cheney regime of thugs and cronies, I REFUSE to use the letter bet*een "V" and "X", and I urge you to do the same.

[robinlynne]

2. Bobby or Al Gore! One of them could take over the EPA!

Can you imagine Al protecting our forests?

[Cleita]

4. Yes, he would be an excellent choice too. n/t

[robinlynne]

7. or...drumroll Al Gore for head of ENERGY!

[Cleita]

8. WooHoo! I like that.

I just got a special issue on energy from "Scientific American". I'm going to go dive into it soon. It looks promising evaluating all the new sources and technologies available.

[Botany]

3. This guy

[David Zephyr]

5. RFK, Jr. for Secretary of the Interior. Caroline Kennedy for NY Senator.

Our nation could not have a better Secretary of the Interior than Bobby Kennedy, Jr.

[Cleita]

9. Heart be still. My choices too.

Could they be too liberal though?

[David Zephyr]

12. We can hope, huh?

A little audacity of hope. I want them both. So happy I am not alone. And be still my heart, too.

[mitchtv]

14. And EPA for Gore!

[David Zephyr]

32. In a heartbeat if he'd take it.

Absolutely.

[lightningandsnow]

6. Martha Stewart.

[FSogol]

10. It will be a Native American adminstrator from the West w/ no Washington experince. n/t

[Shiver]

11. Congressman Raul Grijalva...

... of Arizona's 7th. His name is on the shortlist, and rumours are coming out that he's in the lead for the spot. Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roberto-lovato/grijalva-appointment-to-i_b_148943.html

[Cleita]

13. I never heard of him, but he sounds promising.

I do know about mining in Arizona and how destructive it's been for over a century, because I'm the copper miner's daughter who began his mining career in Miami, Arizona. Funny that I would turn out to be against it all.

[Radical Activist]

15. RFK Jr. should be EPA Director.

His strongest experience is suing polluters and that's what the EPA Director does. Interior would be a waste of his talents. They need to appoint him EPA Director and let him prosecute the fuck out of everybody who ever thought about polluting. hahahaha!

[Cleita]

16. I hope they give him some position that will utilize him in the best

possible way.

[alarimer]

21. absolutely not.

EPA administrator needs to be someone with a science background or at least scientifically literate. RFK Jr is neither, largely because of his stance on vaccines.

[cali]

34. no he shouldn't. who wants that confirmation hearing?

and he is NOT known as a skilled litigator.

[Blue_In_AK]

17. I heard that former Alaskan governor Tony Knowles

was on the short list. Here's Alaska Native blogger Writing Raven's pitch for Tony. http://alaskareal.blogspot.com/2008/11/honey-do-for-obama.html


5. Appoint Gov. Tony Knowles to the Secretary of the Interior!!
Okay, this isn't really a deal breaker for me, but really guys, give Alaskans a chance to show the world that we don't only elect corruption and ineptitude. Gov. Knowles was a twice-elected democratic governor in an extremely republican state. He was very popular - still is - and as Secretary of the Interior (for Natives, this translates "overseeing the Bureau of Indian Affairs") he could have a major impact on Native issues. There was some division in his Native support at the end of his career (strong support for most of it), but I believe this was less because he "betrayed" anyone, and more because he was never a single-issue politician. He would make an EXCELLENT choice - trust me on this guys! As much of an embarassment as Palin was for Alaska, Knowles was and is a source of pride, as well as a smart and capable candidate for this position. The released short list for this position is excellent, but Knowles would be GREAT. PLEASE Mr. President, I beg you as an Alaskan wanting to redeem our state, give us this chance!

[Cleita]

19. I really don't mean to offend, but

Alaskans really view the wilderness differently than the rest of the nation. I believe it's because you still have so much of it that is still pristine that you don't realize how easy it is to pollute a stream and then a river and a lake with one little mine or clear cut. I was impressed though when I visited a year ago that panhandle Alaskans had kicked out the lumber companies in spite of the loss of jobs to them because the clear cuts were ruining their environment. I don't know Governor Knowles very well so I shouldn't judge, but I would prefer no Alaskans for awhile until you learn more about how delicate the ecosystem actually is and don't allow people like Sarah Palin to treat the wilderness and it's critters like a great outdoors video game, legally. I do believe that the lack of laws and regulations predate Governor Palin.

I hope I'm wrong and apologize if my assessment is wrong and I really hope it is and that I didn't get the whole big picture.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. I'm not offended, I was just responding to your question

as to who was being considered, and Tony's name has been out there. Here's a little more http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?s=9315182.

I'm not necessarily advocating, and he may be more pro-development than some people might like, but he is an excellent manager and I think had a balanced view of wilderness v. development when he was governor. Plus he had an excellent relationship with the Natives, which is also a consideration.

[Cleita]

29. Yes, a good relationship with the natives would be a plus.

The situation on the reservations of poverty and other social illnesses in the lower 48 is pretty abysmal. I wonder if the difference is that you don't have reservations up there?

[Blue_In_AK]

31. No reservations,

but we still have many of the same social issues, poverty, alcoholism, etc. I do believe though that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was a much more equitable way to deal with Native land issues than what was done in the Lower 48. The tribes here still retain much of their traditional land and subsistence culture. There seems to have been an awakening of conscience in the hundred or so years between the time that the Native Americans down there were sent to the reservations and the time that the land claims were settled here.

Here's kind of an interesting chart that shows how land ownership of Alaska breaks out http://nrm.salrm.uaf.edu/~stodd/AlaskaPlanningDirectory/landOwnership.html

The federal government owns 65% of the state lands
The state owns 24%
The Native Corporations own 10%
and the other 1% is for everyone else.

We do have kind of unique situation here.

[Cleita]

33. When I was visiting in Fairbanks, forty years ago, I remember the Eskimo families coming

into town from the bush on foot, I suppose to buy some supplies. I guess they didn't have cars. I was curious about how they survived out there in modern times, but I never really asked about it when I was there.

[dkofos]

18. I'm hoping he picks a Native American.

[Cleita]

20. It would make a powerful statement, but

I would hope that this native american is qualified for the job and a true ecologist.

[MercutioATC]

22. Brian Schweitzer!

If I can't have him as VP, I want him as Sec. of the Interior.

[Cleita]

23. What's his environmental record like?

Last time I visited Montana, they were making a concerted effort to clean up all the environmental damage done by mining. They also had an experimental tree laboratory close to Missoula where they were trying to find a way to do sustainable logging without destroying old growth. They had introduced a wolf pack in the Cabinet Gorge and adjoining Bitteroot Wilderness in Idaho, and had actually convinced the locals not to shoot them at that time. Of course I haven't been there for ten years so things can change.

[MercutioATC]

24. That's the thing...he's got a good environmental record.

Hell, his master's degree is in soil science.

The man knows land management.

[Truth2Tell]

25. I keep hearing WA Congressmen

Jay Inslee and Norm Dicks mentioned.

Dicks is a tool btw.

[Cleita]

26. Yeesch, he might get it the way things are going with

Obama's need to govern from the center.

[liberalhistorian]

28. Living in South Dakota, and feeling as you do, I was kinda

hoping that Daschle would be named the Interior Secretary, since he believes as we do and has watched in disgust and dismay as the energy industry and those western politicians beholden to them have done their best to destroy some of the most beautiful land in the country solely in the name of profit.

We haven't had a decent Interior Secretary in many years and there's much damage to undo, if a lot of it isn't already irreparable.

[Cleita]

30. I think that would have been a better fit for Daschle than

Health and Human services.