Abraham Energy Report

When President Obama nominated U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar to serve as Secretary of Interior, many thought the Colorado centrist would focus most of his attention on addressing traditional interior department issues such as water and land use.

Yet Salazar’s first few months in office have proven his portfolio extends far beyond the DOI’s field of traditional issues, and he has been called upon time and again to serve as both spokesman and cheerleader for the administration’s evolving energy policies.

An experienced politician with a knack for dealing with the public and the press, Salazar has raised the profile of the Interior Department as a key player in the wider energy policy space and by all accounts has the approval of the White House for this expanded role.

It was clear early on that Salazar’s tenure at Interior would be unique. “I work for [the president]. That means I will play a keystone role in helping to craft the energy agenda,” Salazar told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during his confirmation hearing in January. “I would not have taken this job if I was not given the assignment to help to craft the energy moon shot that we will take.”

Certainly the President has other capable and experienced leaders on energy policy in Energy Secretary Steven Chu and White House Czar Carol Browner, but the greater energy community has taken note of Salazar’s expanded role on energy issues.

Salazar says he spends between 30 percent and 40 percent of his time on shifting the priority for public lands to renewable energy. That doesn’t mean he has ignored his duties overseeing the nation’s 500 million acres of public lands. He’s also reversed or put on hold a number of Bush administration decisions, from postponing the opening of coastal areas for offshore drilling to rescinding land leases for oil shale mining and canceling 77 oil and gas leases in Utah’s national parks.

Meanwhile, Salazar keeps turning up, either at the President’s side or as the administration’s point person, to tout Obama’s energy policies on Capitol Hill and at public events. In February he announced the DOI would develop a plan for offshore development by identifying potential resources and issuing rules for offshore windmills and deep-sea turbines. The Outer Continental Shelf accounted for 14 percent of the nation’s natural gas production and 27 percent of its oil production in 2007.

Then again in March, Salazar was out front detailing the President’s New Energy for America Plan at a congressional hearing, a plan that would create a clean energy-based economy that conscientiously uses domestic resources, reduces greenhouse gases and creates millions of new jobs.

In April, Salazar was in New Orleans for a town-hall style meeting at Tulane University where he was answering questions on energy issues and promoting the administration’s effort to create a “comprehensive energy strategy.”

In an administration loaded with left-wing activists, Salazar’s pragmatic approach to energy policy is much appreciated. He supports exploration for oil and natural gas on public lands and the development of clean coal technology. Both environmentalists and oil companies have criticized him, yet Salazar is undeterred. He told Newsweek in February 2009: “I’m not here to please the environmental groups or the oil and gas industries. I’m here to do the right thing. The fact that there’s criticism from the left and the right is something I’m very used to.”

No one may have foreseen Salazar’s expansive role in developing energy policy, even though he oversees extensive oil and natural gas mining resources, but it is certainly welcome.  He developed a strong reputation in the Senate as a thoughtful and experienced leader on energy issues, and he will no doubt be an influential member of the President’s energy policy team.
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