Tag Archives: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

Drakes Bay Oyster Co. agrees to shut down

doofThe deal ends the high-profile legal fight waged by the Lunny family, which owns the oyster farm and sought to remain in business after federal officials in 2012 did not renew the farm’s lease. The decision by then- prompted a lawsuit by the Lunnys that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Read the rest here 09:56

Powerful House Republican Doc Hastings enters fray over Drakes Bay Oyster Company controversy at Pt. Reyes

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, made the request in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that revived allegations of scientific misconduct in the government’s assessment of the oyster farm’s impact on Drake’s Estero in the Point Reyes National Seashore. “Serious questions have been raised about the science used by the National Park Service to justify the closure of the oyster farm,” Hastings said in a written statement. (oh yes they have!) continued

Feds recommend removing dams from Klamath River – leaving office, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called on Congress to take action

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The federal government on Thursday recommended that all four aging hydroelectric dams be removed from the Klamath River in southern Oregon and Northern California to help struggling wild salmon runs, and nearly $1 billion should be spent on environmental restoration. continued

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar leaving? (un official)

doofSalazar is the latest Cabinet secretary to leave the administration as Obama heads into his second term. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pentagon chief Leon Panetta, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis are also leaving. Read more No mention of Lubchenco.

US orders Arctic drilling assessment after rig mishap. Is this the future for the East Coast?

The Interior Department on Tuesday ordered “an expedited, high-level assessment” of oil and gas activities in Alaska’s Arctic waters following a violent storm that drove Shell’s drilling rig, the Kulluk, aground last week and revivedstooge debate over the company’s plans to explore for oil in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. “Developing America’s domestic energy sources is essential for reducing our dependence on foreign oil and creating jobs here at home, and the Administration is fully committed to exploring for potential energy resources in frontier areas such as the Arctic,” Salazar said in a statement. But, he added, “we also recognize that the unique challenges posed by the Arctic environment demand an even higher level of scrutiny.” Read more

Interior Dept. Expedites Review of Arctic Drilling After Accidents

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the expedited review, which is to be completed within 60 days, was prompted by accidents and equipment problems aboard Shell’s two Arctic drilling rigs, the Kulluk and the Noble Discoverer, as well as the Arctic Challenger, a vessel designed to respond to a potential well blowout and oil spill. In addition, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it would conduct a comprehensive marine casualty investigation of the ground ing of the Kulluk Read more

The myth of California as ‘environmental leader’ exposed! “the state and federal water project pumps that kill millions and millions of fish every year”

by Dan Bacher

2011 was a record year for water exports to corporate agribusiness and Southern California, resulting in the “salvage” of a record 9 million Sacramento splittail and over 2 million other fish including Central Valley salmon, steelhead, striped bass, largemouth bass, threadfin shad, white catfish and sturgeon. In the face of this massive carnage, the DFG and Natural Resources Secretary John Laird did nothing. (http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/07/carnage-in-the-pumps)

An analysis by the Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA) has found that since year 2000 over one hundred million fish (102,856,027) have been sucked into the delta pumps. This figure includes twenty six million valuable game fish, many of which are endangered.

And Jerry Brown, Natural Resources Secretary John Laird and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar only want to make things even worse by building the peripheral tunnels that will hasten the extinction of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt longfin smelt and other imperiled species.  http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/12/11/18727749.php