APPOINTMENTS

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:50 PM

Vilsack, Salazar Introduced For Ag, Interior

By DAVID HERBERT

President-elect Obama announced the selection of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to lead the Agriculture Department and Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to head up the Interior Department at a press conference this morning.

Obama stressed that in addition to safeguarding the environment, both departments will play a central role in domestic energy production.

"Our wide open spaces are not only a blessing to be enjoyed, they are the foundation of a brighter future," he said. "How we harness our natural resources -- from the farmlands of Iowa to the springs of Colorado -- will speak not only to our quality of life, but to our economic growth and our energy future."

Salazar and Vilsack aren't quite a slam dunk for the green wing of the party. Salazar has been a fierce opponent of oil-shale exploration, but he was also part of a bipartisan coalition of senators who signed onto a plan that would have expanded offshore drilling opportunities. Vilsack has been a staunch supporter of biofuels, which have serious skeptics in the environmental community, and has been a close friend of the agribusiness community as well.

Still, Obama said business interests will be one of the stakeholders -- not the stakeholder -- in decisions about conservation and agriculture.

"It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families," he said. "It means ensuring that the policies being shaped at the Departments of Agriculture and Interior are designed to serve not big agribusiness or Washington influence-peddlers, but family farmers and the American people."

Salazar, who arrived at the press conference in his trademark cowboy hat and bolo tie, will take over an Interior Department that was rocked by charges of sexual misconduct, drug use and graft earlier this year. Salazar is the former attorney general of Colorado.

Vilsack also adds a new wrinkle to Obama's "team of rivals." As a short-lived candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination, the former governor becomes Obama's fourth primary opponent in the administration, joining Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Commerce Secretary-designate Bill Richardson. After dropping out of the race in February 2007, Vilsack endorsed Clinton in the primaries.