Sally Jewell, president and chief executive of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) and former petroleum engineer and commercial banker, has been nominated by President Obama to succeed outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Jewell is Obama’s first female nominee for his second-term Cabinet. Although she has no prior experience working in government, her combination of credentials may appeal to both sides of the dispute between conservationists and those advocating for gas and oil drilling on public lands.
“She knows the link between conservation and good jobs,” Obama said at the White House. “She knows that there’s no contradiction between being good stewards of the land and our economic progress, that, in fact, those two things need to go hand in hand.”
So far though, Jewell’s nomination has received a positive response from environmentalists and a standoffish response from most Republicans.
“I think she’ll bring a breath of fresh air to the job,” said Mike Daulton, vice president of government relations for the National Audubon Society. “She understands how many jobs and how much economic activity is tied to the outdoors.”
“The livelihoods of Americans living and working in the West rely on maintaining a real balance between conservation and economic opportunity,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and National Resources Committee. “I look forward to hearing about the qualifications Ms. Jewell has that make her a suitable candidate to run such an important agency, and how she plans to restore balance to the Interior Department.”
