Ken Salazar
| Ken Salazar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| 50th United States Secretary of the Interior From: January 20, 2009-Present | |||
| President | Barack Hussein Obama | ||
| Predecessor | Dirk Kempthorne | ||
| Successor | Incumbent (no successor) | ||
| U.S. Senator from Colorado From: January 3, 2005 – January 20, 2009 | |||
| Predecessor | Ben Campbell | ||
| Successor | Michael Bennett | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Hope Salazar | ||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||
Kenneth Lee Salazar, born March 2, 1955 (age 70), is the current Secretary of Agriculture in the Obama Administration. Previously he was U.S. Senator from Colorado. He is member of the "Blue Dog" conservative faction of the Democratic Party. He is of Latino heritage, his family arriving in Colorado before 1850.
Oil Drilling
Salazar, as a member of the Obama administration, is in charge of issuing leases (permits) for oil drilling in America. Since coming to office, he has cancelled 77 leases approved by the Bush administration. He has shut down deep-water offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico due to the Gulf oil spill disaster and has issued just one permit his entire time in office, the first week of March 2011.
In 2008, Mitch McConnell attempted to introduce legislation to trigger ANWR oil drilling in the event of an emergency. The now famous exchange had Salazar denying oil drilling even if the cost of gasoline reaches $10 per gallon. See video
