Salazar Nominated for Interior, Sets Off Scramble for Senate

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar will be the nation's next secretary of the interior if President-elect Barack Obama has his way.

Obama nominated Colorado's current junior senator to his cabinet today.

Salazar, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 after serving as the state's attorney general and director of the department of natural resources.

Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, will appoint his replacement, who would serve until the end of Salazar's current term.

Ritter Again Pleads for Halt to Commercial Oil Shale Authorizations

Gov. Bill Ritter objected today to the White House’s latest efforts to advance commercial oil-shale development in Colorado, arguing that recent regulatory changes by the U.S. Department of Interior are "premature and irresponsible."

President George W. Bush has blocked the continuation of a funding restriction on the issuance of commercial oil shale leasing regulations. The funding restriction expires Sept. 30.

“I urge you and your administration to partner with states like Colorado," Ritter wrote to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. "Work with us, not against us, and together we can meet this nation’s energy needs and craft a responsible energy future for America.”

The text of the letter can be found here.

GOP Legislators Attack Salazar's Stand on Energy Development

Several GOP state legislators attacked U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar's positions on energy development on federal lands yesterday, calling on him to be more accommodating to Bush Administration plans for more drilling on the western slope and off U.S. coasts.

Salazar has been a vocal critic of those administration plans, calling on the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, who manage federal lands, to be give more consideration of environmental impacts and to give less weight to gas prices at the pump.

"Ken Salazar has missed a golden opportunity to become Colorado's quarterback for common sense energy policy," Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, said. "He could be genuinely helping families meet their budgets for gas and utility bills, but I guess he would rather be a punter than a quarterback."

Salazar has opposed development on Colorado’s Roan Plateau and the Vermillion Basin. He has also opposed allowing environmental rules to be established so the feasibility of commercial oil shale production can be determined.

The Republicans' criticism of Colorado's junior senator was included in a letter sent to Salazar Wednesday by, among others, Kopp, senate minority leader Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs, and senate assistant minority leader Nancy Spence of Centennial.