Obama’s pick to head Dept of Interior gets the nod from environmentalists

Environmentalists have cheered the decision by the Obama administration to tap Recreational Equipment Inc. CEO Sally Jewell as secretary of the interior, a position to be vacated by Ken Salazar. “In Jewell, President Obama chose a leader with a demonstrated commitment to preserving the higher purposes public lands hold for all Americans – recreation, adventure, and enjoyment,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement. “Jewell’s unique experience and her love of America’s outdoors will be invaluable to the stewardship of the waters, lands and wildlife we’ve been entrusted to protect for our children,” said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “America’s public lands and endangered species are in dire need of leadership,” Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an emailed statement. “We hope Sally Jewell brings the same determination and transparency to running the Department of the Interior as she did to REI. Change at that agency is desperately needed.”...more