MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Obama names bio-fuels fervent advocate for Agriculture

Senator Ken Salazar

US President-elect Barack Obama has announced that Colorado Senator Ken Salazar will serve as Secretary of the Interior in his cabinet. He will be in charge of leasing federal land for energy exploration.

Mr Obama also revealed that he will pick former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, a fervent advocate of bio-fuels, as his agriculture secretary. Mr Vilsack made a run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, dropping out before the first primary. After Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson, he will be the fourth of Mr Obama's former rivals for the nomination to enter the President-elect's inner circle. He has experience in the farming sector - agriculture is the prime industry in his home state. Some environmentalists have expressed concern about Mr Vilsack's support for government subsidies of corn ethanol. One of Mr Salazar's key responsibilities at the Department of the Interior will be energy policy. In the Senate, Mr Salazar voted against a bill to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. His appointment would open up another vacancy in the Senate, on top of the seats being left vacant by Mr Obama, Mr Biden and Mrs Clinton. The task of appointing Mr Salazar's replacement will be given to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, and there has been speculation that he may pick Mr Salazar's brother John, who serves Colorado in the US House of Representative.