Environment America: Congratulations to Sally Jewell, New Head of the Department of Interior

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Environment America

Washington, D.C. – Moments ago the Senate voted to confirm Sally Jewell, President Obama’s nominee to head the Department of the Interior. Mary Rafferty, conservation program coordinator for Environment America, released the following statement:

“Environment America applauds our new Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell. Given her passion for the great outdoors and the values that have driven her work as a volunteer and a philanthropist, she is a great choice to oversee America’s parks and treasured landscapes.

“Americans share Secretary Jewell’s love of the outdoors and are committed to keeping extraordinary places like Yosemite, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Everglades protected forever.

“Many of America’s public landscapes, from the forests of the Pacific Northwest to the beaches along the Gulf Coast, are under increased threat from overdevelopment and pollution from mining, drilling and logging. We look forward to working together with Secretary Jewell to keep these places protected using the Antiquities Act, conservation programs like the Land and Water Conservation fund, and strengthening the proposed rules for fracking in our forests, near our parks and along our waterways.

Environment America hopes to work with Sally Jewell and President Obama to permanently protect some of our most iconic public places, including New Mexico’s Organ Mountains and Stornetta Public Lands along the California Coastal National Monument, while building on Secretary Salazar’s legacy to keep new uranium mining out of the Grand Canyon, and new drilling out of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.

“We also can’t wait for the new Secretary to move forward with swiftly and responsibly harnessing pollution-free wind power off our coasts.

“We applaud the Senate for swiftly confirming Sally Jewell’s nomination, as there is no time to waste in protecting America’s treasured landscapes. We look forward to continuing our work with the Department of the Interior under Jewell’s leadership.”