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Salazar steps down as Interior Secretary Says he will leave office by the end of March and will return home after serving in the Obama administration for four years Alan Bailey Petroleum News
Ken Salazar says that by the end of March he will leave his position as Secretary of the Interior, returning to his home in Colorado.
“Colorado is and will always be my home. I look forward to returning to my family and Colorado after eight years in Washington, D.C.,” Salazar said on Jan. 16 when announcing his decision to leave Interior. “I am forever grateful to President Obama for his friendship in the U.S. Senate and the opportunity he gave me to serve as a member of his cabinet during this historic presidency.”
Salazar has been at the helm in the Department of the Interior during a tumultuous time for the agency, with Interior responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico; promoting the development of renewable energy technologies on state lands; and formulating new policies for oil and gas exploration and development on the outer continental shelf, including the contentious issue of Alaska offshore development. In the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon, Salazar oversaw the reorganization of the old Minerals Management Service into three new agencies. And Interior issued a series of new safety rules for offshore drilling.
Comments from Alaska “I want to thank the secretary for his service to the nation both as a senator and in his time at the Department of the Interior. Being the nation’s top steward, responsible for one-fifth of all the land in the United States, is no easy task and Secretary Salazar performed it with the upmost dedication to his principles,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “The Interior Department has a huge influence on Alaska’s economy as the landlord of more than 220 million acres within our borders. Alaska’s future depends on our ability to access and develop our natural resources under federal control. I encourage President Obama to choose a replacement who will work in partnership with Alaska and other western states to ensure their future economic success.”
Sen. Mark Begich said that Salazar had set a high standard as Interior Secretary.
“I have had the privilege of working with Secretary Salazar on a host of issues important to Alaska, including our critical efforts to open the Arctic Ocean to the first oil and gas drilling it has seen in 20 years,” Begich said. “The progress we made on streamlining OCS permitting and exploration would not have happened without his leadership. While we have not seen eye to eye on every issue, he has taken the time to travel to Alaska many times, to listen to Alaskans and make decisions based on that homework.”
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