Colorado Politics
Federal Agencies: Interior
President Obama Halts Wolf Delisting
President Barack Obama has issued a freeze on publication of federal regulations planned under the previous administration but not yet published in the Federal Register. This action, which will give the new administration a chance to review Bush-era policy decisions, will delay and possibly prevent the removal of gray wolves from the endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and portions of Washington, Oregon, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
According to Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, the pause will afford President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the opportunity to rethink the previous administration’s efforts to remove wolves from the endangered species list. “Rather than remove protections from wolves in a piecemeal fashion, in the isolated locations where they have finally begun to recover from past persecution,” Robinson said, “ the Obama administration should develop and implement a national gray-wolf recovery plan that will ensure the survival of these magnificent animals.”
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Politics: Congress
Can a Mixed Congressional Delegation Truly Collaborate?
Idaho's two Senators and two congressmen today sent a joint letter to the editor statement to the Idaho media:
"Dear Editor,
On January 6th, three of us took our public oath to serve the people of Idaho in the United States Congress--two for the first time and one for the 6th time--and the fourth moved into a new role as senior Senator. Together, we look forward to working to uphold the values of all Idahoans and promoting what is good for our families, communities and state."
Justified as it is for citizens to expect their representatives to finally rise above the acrid opposition which has led to a stunning lack of progress in reforming American policies, many are cynical. And history shows we shouldn’t count on it.
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Colorado Politics
Report: Denver Schools Chief Chosen for Senate Seat
The Denver Post is reporting that Michael Bennet, the superintendent of schools in Denver and former chief of staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, has been chosen to fill the Senate seat being vacated by soon-to-be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
The Post says the choice came down to Bennet or Hickenlooper, and that Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to formally announce the selection on Saturday.
Bennet has been an ambitious and at times controversial school superintendent, drawing fire for an early decision to close a venerable but underperforming inner-city high school but eventually gaining the support of many community leaders.
Bennet, like Hicklenlooper, is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut (which also happens to be the alma mater of yours truly), and he holds a law degree from Yale. His father, Doug Bennet, is a former president of Wesleyan, and his brother, James, is a prominent journalist and now editor of the Atlantic Monthly magazine.
AN EASY, QUICK WAY FOR OBAMA TO KEEP HIS PROMISE
Let National Park Gun Rule Stand
In early December President Bush kept his promise and came through for gun owners who supported him by loosening rules allowing loaded, concealed guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.
Now, President-elect Obama needs to keep his promise and come through for gun owners who supported him by allowing this rule to stand as currently written.
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Vehicle Miles Decline
U.S. Drivers Hit the Brakes
In a report that will doubtless find its way to the highest corridors of power in Washington, D.C., the Brookings Institute concludes that Americans’ love affair with the automobile is ending.
For the first time on record, U.S. vehicle miles traveled declined year-to-year in 2007, the study, entitled "The Road...Less Traveled," finds. “America is experiencing its longest and steepest drop in driving, signaling a permanent shift away from reliance on the car to other modes of transportation,” write study authors Robert Puentes and Adie Tomer.
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FIRST AND ONLY ON NEWWEST.NET
Greens Send Obama Quick Fix List
Environmentalists see the Blue Tide as more of a Green Tide, and they not only have their hopes up, but their sleeves rolled up.
A huge coalition of green groups, 98 in all, has just finished a massive analysis of the current regulatory situation governing the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service amd prepared a lengthy quick fix list to President-elect Obama's transition team.
Based on this action-packed letter, Obama's choices for Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture will have a lot of homework to do long before they start work in January.
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Diary of a Mad Voter: Joan McCarter
Ken Salazar to Interior
The Denver Post is now reporting as settled the rumor it reported this morning that Sen. Ken Salazar would be named Secretary of the Interior.
On environmental issues, I think we could have done worse. California Rep. Michael Thompson, for instance, would have been much worse with his strong ties to timber and seemingly best qualification being the fishing and hunting groups like him. Much better, IMO, to have an interior westerner at interior than a coastal one. We probably could have done better, too. Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, unabashedly progressive, had been very much on top of keeping track of Dirk Kempthorne's diry deeds in the current administration.
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BROTHERS MAKING THEIR MARK FOR COLORADO
Ken Salazar Likely Nod for Interior
The Denver Post is reporting this morning that Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) is now the leading candidate for Secretary of the Interior. If so, he has bypassed early leaders Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Interior Deputy Secretary John Berry.
The Post also reports that Congressman John Salazar (D-CO.), Ken's older brother, has been on the short list for Secretary of Agriculture, but now he is more likely to be appointed to his brother's job in the U.S. Senate by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, also a Democrat
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KEEP THOSE GUN MAVERICKS UNDER CONTROL
Dear Mr. President-elect, Please Don’t Make Me a Big Loser on Guns
If you've followed my recent columns on gun rights, you know that I have a big bet on the table--not an all-in bet, hopefully, but really big!
Our new administration and Congress has a lot of anti-gun baggage, but I've argued, unsuccessfully so far, that two colossal political realities will keep the Blue Tide from seriously pursuing any new gun laws.
So convinced am I of this that during several email exchanges, online and offline, with gun nuts, I bet them no gun bill would get through Congress any time during the next four years. So Mr. President-elect and Ms. Speaker of the House, please come through for me. Don't make me a big loser.
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The Obama Effect
Gun Sales Boom—Fact or Hype?
Since the election of Barack Obama, and the Democratic near-sweep of Congress, two weeks ago there have beenhundreds of news stories about an up surge of gun sales across the West and across the country. Many of these have appeared in newspapers in the Rocky Mountain West: the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, the Salt Lake Tribune, and so on. The problem is, while these accounts seem to present persuasive evidence, they're almost all based on anecdotal evidence. [more]
