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June 15, 2010 05:38 PM UTC

It's the Job Ken Salazar Wanted...

  • 38 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Gets awfully thankless sometimes, as the Grand Junction Sentinel’s Dennis Webb reports:

More than 100 scientists and environmental groups have signed a letter asking President Barack Obama to request the resignation of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, while other leading conservation organizations continue to strongly support Salazar.

WildEarth Guardians, which circulated the letter, contended in a news release Monday that the actions of the former U.S. senator from Colorado haven’t matched his tough talk about being “the new sheriff in town.”

“Mr. Salazar’s failure to clean up Interior is why we’re seeing the mess in the Gulf,” Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians said in the release. “We need serious mopping up within this department, and it should start with Salazar leaving.”

But Steve Torbit, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation, said he thinks Salazar has “done more in a balanced way” than any Interior secretary in at least a quarter century…

Many of those signing the letter represent smaller, more regional conservation groups. Some, such as the Wolf Recovery Foundation, promote predator species, while several advocate on behalf of wild horses, which Interior manages.

Steve Smith, assistant regional director of the Wilderness Society, said calls for Salazar’s resignation serve as a distraction to the work being done by public officials at a critical time.

“When talking about Ken Salazar in particular, this kind of distraction goes to the level of ridiculous,” he said.

By most accounts, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has worked to balance the need for energy exploration with environmental protections that were neglected under his predecessors in the Bush administration. From what we can see in this letter, the environmental organizations calling for Salazar’s head have a laundry list of grievances, only some of which concern the present oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. On the other side, the oil and gas industry has criticized Salazar for decisions unfavorable to them he has made on resources and leasing.

We’ve not spared Salazar, or assistants like Tom Strickland, from criticism they have coming over the response to the Gulf oil spill: although the more egregious abuses at the Minerals Management Service are not alleged to have continued under Salazar, oversight failures that may have contributed to this spill are going to have to be reckoned with. Nobody seriously claims that Salazar is as cozy and accommodating with the oil industry as, say, his predecessor Gale Norton, but there is obviously the question of whether or not Salazar was strict enough.

The fact remains, all this being said, that Democrats are just not vulnerable to attacks over the environment in the same manner the Bush administration would have been, had they been in charge when the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank. Republican attacks on the Obama administration for insufficiently aggressive government intervention lack credibility in fundamental ways–ways that remain in the back of voters’ minds even as they want to agree out of frustration. For as long as that remains the case, and especially while the major-player environmental organizations continue to back Salazar, we’re not worried about his job security.

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38 thoughts on “It’s the Job Ken Salazar Wanted…”

      1. Not that I disagree with some of the criticisms but measured in bureaucracy time, Salazar has been there for about a couple of months. I’m betting he keeps the job.  

    2. Secretary Salazar’s handling of Summitville Mines was so poorly handled that than US Attorney now Interior Department Second in Command Tom Strickland was sharply critical.  

  3. .

    CoPols sees this OIL DISASTER as yet one more battlefield on which to attack the GOP and defend the Democratic Party.  GROW UP.

    This Oil Geyser has already caused more damage than 10 Katrinas + 10 Dust Bowls, and it’s just warming up.  “Out of sight, out of mind.”

    There will be no relief in August from the “Relief Wells.”  The entire North Atlantic coast, here and in Europe and North Africa and South America, is going to be tarred.  

    When is the vaunted Democratic Leadership going to kick in ?  

    This is way beyond anything partisan.  The GOP is likewise incapable of dealing with this.

    Unless the catty attacks on the opposition can be deferred until a solution is developed and implemented, the bickering is just going to delay the day when we eventually get this under control.

    .

    p.s.: regardless of whatever good Ken Salazar may have done previously as Secretary, his response to this has been inadequate, just as his lack of focus on fixing and overseeing MMS allowed this disaster to happen.  There shouldn’t have to be talk of firing him; he ought to have resigned, to initiate what I call a “culture of accountability,” which would be good for governance, but does not now exist.

    .

    2. the government is us.  We demand deep sea drilling because we refuse to deal with our addiction to oil.  We elect governments that refuse to regulate or enforce. The amount we get isn’t enough to give us oil independence, security or lower the price.  It’s no more than we could conserve with pretty painless sensible measures.  

      We will have to develop a new energy economy at some point.  We keep putting it off because of big oil money to the politicians we elect and the fact that we refuse to grow up and take sensible measures for safety and conservation right now in the meantime.  

      Time for the American electorate to grow up and stop pretending we can get along just fine with a bathtub drowning size government and trust in the CEOS and boards of a completely uncontrolled free market to give a damn about anything but profit for themselves.

      Time to stop expecting that, unless we have tough rules and tough enforcement, they won’t just stick with the same old business plan that says paying lobbyists, fines and suits is more cost effective than following rules or volunteering to spend on keeping workers, the public and the environment safe in the first place. How many more lost savings, lost workers in mines and on rigs, lost eco-systems and lost livelihoods?

      How many more times do we have to see the same thing over and over, the same preventable human, economic and environmental catastrophies, before we wise up?  We have to make the consequences for these cowboys dire enough so that it isn’t cost effective to risk getting caught screwing us and so they know they’ll go to prison and lose everything for screwing us or they’ll just keep right on screwing us. No matter who is in office. Period.

  4. Job 1 of the Obama Administration remains to investigate and reverse the damage done to the federal government by the Bush Administration.  We knew of the MMS fiasco prior to Obama’s inauguration and Ken Salazar should have acted more forcefully to understand what Bush/Cheney did to compromise its mission.  And, of course, the financial meltdown was another disaster partially caused by Bush deregulation.

    So, that begs the question: What other disasters are waiting to happen?  Nuclear power plants come to my mind.  Does the same “cozy” relationship exist in that industry?  Does lax regulation allow industry greed to trump safety?  

    I’m tired of the Condi Rice “who could have foreseen” excuse.  Democrats should be better than that.  The BP spill is a wakeup call to investigate and reverse the cancer that Bush injected throughout the federal government.

  6. Interior is an incredibly decentralized Department with countless staff populating a huge number of local, regional and national offices. It is very difficult for any DOI Secretary to effect significant change in business practices and agency culture from the top down over a short period of time. In addition, it is difficult to lay ALL of the blame on an agency within an Administration who must work jointly with the private sector toward preventing $6.00 gas at a time when:  1) drilling onshore has been crippled by the ESA and NEPA etc.. 2)  Renewable generation has enormous hurdles given the difficulties inherent in siting transmission infrastructure between rural generation areas and urban load centers, 3) We can’t increase imported oil given that its transport is even more volatile than deepwater drilling (not to mention the volatility of the regimes we are forced to partner with) 4) Solar and cellulosic technology and capacity isn’t sufficiently advanced to deliver on the scale needed to make it an economically viable alternative.5)Nuclear sounds good on paper but I for one am not too sure how cooling towers in my neighborhood will help my property value.  I don’t need to mention the problems facing offshore drilling. And, in addition to finding energy sources to drive the economy in the face of these hurdles, we need to proceed in a manner that best protects wildlife habitat and  the environment. All of these things combined present a fairly significant challenge to whoever the DOI Secretary is.  Government is not ubiquitous, we all need to give Secretary Salazar and whoever the next Secretary is a chance to work through these issues.  Including us Republicans.  P.S. Kempthorne was Salazar’s immediate predecessor.  

    1. .

      not so much for MMS.

      The HQ’s is in DC; the revenue operation is at Zip Code 80225.  They have 3 regional offices that handle offshore operations, in LA, Anchorage and NOLA.  

      This bureau has another 6 or so field offices.  

      The challenges to oversight presented by a bureau with 50 state offices, for example, just don’t apply to MMS.

      .

      1. governmental organization that needs changing.  And almost always, I believe, the changes that are needed are changes in people.  Those in command of an agency, office or division are the ones who need to move on, with others brought in to take their place.  It is the only way I know of to change the culture of an organization.  

  7. the Objections of the extreme right would have given if Salazar had cleaned house immediately following his appointment.  

    That “radical”, “socialist”, “Marxist”, extreme Obama agenda. Would have been shouted from every mole hill. (as if it were a mountaintop.)

    President Obama is Damned if he does and Damned if he doesn’t.

    He was moving “too fast” last year. This year he in light of the Gulf Oil Disaster. Obama (Salazar Obamas apointed Interior sec) is not moving fast enough.

    I say it will take far longer than a year and a half to root out and replace all of the bush incompetence, done over the last 8 years.  

    1. .

      As an Army officer, I took command of a unit one day, and there was a major larceny that very same night.  I was held responsible, and rightly so.

      Exactly where are these adults in the Democratic Party I keep hearing about ?

      .  

      1. he has no responsibility.  The fact is a unit isn’t a huge conglomerate of big bureaucracies.

        As I recall, everything  negative was ascribed to the Clinton administration for the entire first Bush term while they took credit for any up-tick in anything from day one so how about 4 years? In any case, I just don’t see Salazar being asked to step down any time soon.  

    2. The implication is he should have known Interior’s oil rig inspectors accepted gifts and allowed the companies to fill out their own inspection reports. How could he have possibly known that was going on until the department’s inspector general uncovered that fact. The MMS inspectors certainly weren’t going to tell him. Those calling for Secretary Salazar’s resignation or firing are implying a level of knowledge no one in his position ever has. The issue at the moment is how he reacts to this knowledge and what does the government do to remedy the existing problem and possibly prevent it in the future.

      There is a lot of frustration at the moment but we should all realize this disaster wasn’t caused by the government, including the MMS inspectors. It was caused by BP’s insistence on cutting corners at this particular drill site. This doesn’t absolve the MMS inspectors for their transgressions through the years but BP, regrdless of the behavior of the MMS staff, should have stopped the drilling at this site until the annullar was reparied.

      Second, unlike other disasters, man made or natural, normally there is a finite amount of damage because a storm roles through an area (Katrina) or a ship runs aground (Exxon Valdez) and damage can be quantified because the agent of that damage creates or causes a finite amount of damage. In the present disaster, that is not the case. BP can’t stop the oil from gushing every minute of every hour of every day. There is no end in site. The true test for Secretary Salazar is whether he can be innovative in this very difficult situation and along with the President and the oil industry resolve this particular disaster.

      1.  that Republican 36 is right about this…

        It was caused by BP’s insistence on cutting corners at this particular drill site.

        I happen to know a gentleman who has worked in the oilfield all his life. He operates machinery…he is a pipelayer…and I also know that he spent considerable time working offshore. On day three of “the Death of an Ocean”, sponsored by BP/Amoco & Halliburton, I ran in to him at work and asked him to tell me what he thought of the situation in the Gulf.

        He said, “Well, sir, it looks like them boys from BP decided to save some money and didn’t put in the right equipment. “Now”, he continued, “it’s gonna cost ’em a whole lot more.”

        Subsequent news has born out his supposition.

        People who try to blame Obama and his administration for this incident don’t understand that, during the Bush years, the Oil and Gas industry and the United States government were the same thing.  

      2. Being in charge means you are responsible. Now if he had started a week before it happened it would be a fair point. But he had been there long enough, and knew some departments were a mess.

        So why didn’t he have qualified people running each department and cleaning house? If he’s not responsible then we are no longer holding our officials responsible for doing their job.

    3. however, they were elected to do a job and they knew (or should have known) that it wasn’t going to be easy.  There will always be critics to strong leadership and strong leadership does what is right and needed without regard to the nay-sayers.

  8. I’m not a Ken Salazar fan but I guess I don’t understand the calls for his resignation.  A leader cannot be held responsible for acts under him unless he has ordered them.  But, he can be held responsible for fixing problems that have occurred.  I haven’t seen a timeline  or decision-making chart on this issue but I would expect something along those lines from Salazar.  If he can’t make his own deadlines, he will need to be replaced.

    I give Salazar a lot of credit for his actions on the Indian Trust Fund.  That’s some good will he can use….

    1. .

      Good for him.  But what has he done for me lately ?

      Taking charge means taking responsibility for everything the organization does or fails to do, not just for what he specifically ordered.  

      If Salazar isn’t responsible, then nobody is.  If nobody in the entire Administration is responsible for anything, why did we elect them ?  Why did they run ?  

      .

      1. agreed.

        He is responsible for fixing errors and mistakes and other problems.  I’m asking for a timeline for his resolving those problems.  If a timeline isn’t forthcoming, that is a problem, too.

  9. Salazar has issued meaningful policy changes onshore–creating a larger role for scientific review before to oil and gas leasing and reforming the Categorical Exclusion policy onshore.

    He needs to do the same offshore, and he needs to develop clear and consistent and mandatory safety and environmental standards for both offshore and onshore drilling.  

  10. Does he get his old Senate seat back? If not,  maybe he can run a write-in primary campaign. Romanoff and Bennet haven’t been sufficiently bloodied yet. Salazar will get them battle ready.

      1. .

        He, Matthews and Fineman said it was a missed opportunity, where he should have shown leadership, taken charge and laid out a definitive plan, he mostly distanced himself from an active role, like they were hoping for.  

        “Fumble” may not have been spoken, but that was clearly the message.  

        http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30…

        .

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