The Senate Energy Committee voted to approve the nomination of Sally Jewel to be the next Interior Secretary despite the objections of Wyoming U-S Senator John Barrasso.
Barrasso was one of three members of the Senate Energy Committee to oppose the nomination. Barrasso told the committee that he received vague answers from Jewel concerning a variety of topics, but his largest criticism surrounds the fact that Jewel was Vice Chairman of the National Parks Conservation Association.
“During her tenure as Vice Chairman of that group, NPCA has frequently sued the federal government to shut down energy production and has sought aggressive regulations that threaten American jobs. For example NCPA has sought to dramatically to expand the BLM’s hydraulic fracturing rule and the OSM’s stream regulations, two rules that would make it harder to produce American energy.”
Jewel’s nomination will now be voted on by the full Senate. She would oversee more than 500 million acres of national parks and other public lands, and more than 1 billion acres offshore.
Jewel is currently the CEO of the retailer REI.