Colorado: Interior

WASHINGTON — In one of her earliest appearances before the Senate Natural Resources Committee, Gale Norton, President George W. Bush's first interior secretary, proclaimed in 2001 the need to "explore the entire smorgasbord of different options" when it came to domestic energy production.

But what was actually on the buffet was telling: Drilling off the coast of Florida, coal extraction in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah and exploring for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Now fast forward eight years, to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's first appearance before the same Senate committee last week.

He laid out maps that showed wind-energy potential across the West; talked about tapping geothermal energy underlying states including Idaho and Colorado; and evoked the vision of a high-tech "super- electron highway" that will connect "renewable-energy zones" on public lands to homes in California or New Jersey.

In a letter sent this week (PDF), state Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, pleads with Attorney General John Suthers to intervene regarding concerns over air pollution in southwest Colorado resulting from the Four Corners Power Plant.

"We're hoping Attorney General Suthers helps us because there is currently a lawsuit going on, which is crossing some very unique lines," Tipton said.

The plant is located on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, so there are jurisdictional issues when trying to curb pollution from the plant. While New Mexico has its own rules regarding air pollution, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state has no jurisdiction over the FCPP because it is located on Native American tribal lands.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday afternoon that fourth-generation Colorado resident Will Shafroth, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last summer, will be the department’s deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. A few weeks ago Salazar nominated another Colorado politician as Shafroth’s boss, naming former Senate candidate and one-time U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland as his assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

The announcement from Salazar’s office:

Salazar Names Land Conservation Leader Will Shafroth Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has named Will Shafroth, a land conservationist executive and founding director of the Colorado Conservation Trust and Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times today:

Another seat that appeared secure for Democrats may be up for grabs in Colorado after Ken Salazar left to become Interior secretary. His replacement, former Denver schools chief Michael Bennet, is a political neophyte who could face a primary fight.

"It would have been a terribly uphill climb" to beat Salazar, said Colorado Republican Chairman Dick Wadhams, who suggests Republicans have "at least a 50-50 shot" of beating Bennet. [rsb emphasis]

Not exactly brimming with confidence, is he?