Priority

A “fifth-generation son of the West” and nominee for the top post at the U.S. Department of Interior told a Senate committee last Thursday his first priority will be to clean up the scandal-plagued agency. President-elect Obama’s pick for Interior secretary, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (D), also emphasized the need for renewable energy development and conservation.

A “fifth-generation son of the West” and nominee for the top post at the U.S. Department of Interior told a Senate committee Thursday his first priority will be to clean up the scandal-plagued agency. President-elect Obama’s pick for Interior secretary, Ken Salazar, also emphasized the need for renewable energy development and conservation.

President-elect Obama promised that his administration would make a national and international response to climate change a top priority for its role in energy independence, environmental preservation and national security. During a videotaped speech played at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit in California, Obama said addressing climate change can help transform the economy.

With post-Sept. 11 security concerns seen as a priority issue, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has unveiled a proposal that would require each applicant for a new nuclear reactor design to assess how the design, to the extent practicable, can have “greater built-in protections” to “avoid or mitigate the effects” of a large commercial aircraft impact, making the plants even more resistant to an attack.

Senate leaders Thursday signaled that energy will be a priority item for the chamber, but they will move more deliberatively on the issue than House Democrats, who plan to vote on an energy package Jan. 18.

A comprehensive energy bill will be “among the most important matters to come before this Congress” in the upcoming months, Energy Secretary nominee Sam Bodman said during his Senate confirmation hearing last Wednesday. Business leaders and representatives of leading natural gas associations echoed that sentiment at a “State of the Energy Industry” roundtable last week.

A comprehensive energy bill will be “among the most important matters to come before this Congress” in the upcoming months, Energy Secretary nominee Sam Bodman said during his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.

A key priority of Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will be to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as part of the budget reconciliation process next year, according to committee spokeswoman Marne Funk.

A key priority of Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will be to open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as part of the budget reconciliation process next year, according to spokeswoman Marne Funk.