Interior's Sally Jewel: Will Her Religious Edict Trump Climate Science?

Sally Jewel, Secretary of the Interior

Word spread last week that the new Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewel, may not have much interest in scientific methodology these days. In her mind, climate-change - that's Interior newspeak for "anthropogenic global warming" - could be settled science. In fact, it may be so settled she issued a memo hoping "there are no climate-change deniers in the Department of the Interior."  William Katz (Urgent Agenda) has the best summary about this new leadership mindset at Interior. 

This is somewhat disappointing as I had high hopes for Jewell. As a trained and experienced engineer, she worked in the commercial banking world, sat on several boards, and served as the president and CEO of REI. She knows what it means to meet a payroll and she loves the outdoor. Thankfully, she does have a strong conservation ethic characteristic of several Interior secretaries in our lifetime, including two of the most successful, Stewart Udall and Bruce Babbitt. 

I'd like nothing more than to see Jewel dissolve some of the political boundaries that separate the conservatives who like their guns from the preservationists who like their wilderness.  If her statement was a mere misstep on the part of a new and nervous political appointee, we can forgive, forget, and hope for better things in the future.