Environmentalists have so far been ecstatic over President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet picks, with some even calling it the green dream team. And when Obama introduced Democratic Senator Ken Salazar as his new Secretary of the Interior at a news conference in Chicago Wednesday morning, he was likely hoping for the same worshipful reaction. "It's time for a new kind of leadership in Washington that's committed to using our lands in a responsible way to benefit all our families," said Obama. "That is the kind of leadership embodied by Ken Salazar."
But not all greens are so sure about the Colorado Senator, and Salazar's nomination could represent Obama's first conflict with the environmental community. Although mainstream green groups like Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) were quick to praise Salazar — Dan Grossman, head of EDF's Rocky Mountain office, calls Salazar a "rare talent" — other environmentalists were far less impressed. "His environmental record is pretty mixed," says Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Ariz. "He's far from the most antienvironmental guy out there, but he's no environmental hero." (See members of Obama's White House.)
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