OBAMA TAPS REI EXECUTIVE TO LEAD INTERIOR DEPARTMENT

Sally Jewell’s Oil, Outdoor Conservation Experience Excites Fossil Industry, Greens 

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
2/8/13

President Obama has nominated the chief executive of outdoor equipment retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) to head the Department of Interior, defying many expectations in his first pick for his Cabinet-level energy and environment team. During a Feb. 6 announcement at the White House, Obama said Sally Jewell’s background in both the oil industry and outdoor conservation would make her a good candidate to help balance the DOI’s multiple missions.  “She knows the link between conservation and good jobs. She knows that there’s no contradiction between being good stewards of the land and our economic progress; that in fact, those two things need to go hand in hand,” Obama said as he introduced Jewell.

Jewell represents a more unconventional pick for Obama’s Cabinet given her lack of experience in politics. Jewell has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Washington and began her career working as an oil engineer in Oklahoma and Colorado for Mobil Oil. She then spent nearly two decades as a banker before spending the last seven years at the helm of REI, which operates as a consumer co-op group. Jewell is also known as an outdoor enthusiast and a vocal advocate for environmental conservation. 

Many Appear Encouraged by Jewell’s Nomination

As a result of her background, many in both the fossil fuel and environmental communities appeared to embrace Jewell, seemingly making her a less politically divisive pick the for Obama Administration’s energy and environment team. “We are encouraged that Ms. Jewell would bring a wealth of business experience to her new position overseeing the vast mineral and coal resources of the federal government. We trust she will put her experience to good use in addressing long-standing impediments to more efficient development of these resources,” National Mining Association CEO Hal Quinn said in a Feb. 6 statement.

Meanwhile, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune highlighted what he said was Jewell’s “demonstrated commitment to preserving the higher purposes public lands hold for all Americans—recreation, adventure and enjoyment.” “We look forward to working closely with her to preserve more of those benefits and more of our natural heritage by designating new national monuments, protecting America’s Arctic from risky drilling and keeping dirty and dangerous fracking out of our public lands,” he said in a statement.

But others on Capitol Hill appeared to take a more tempered attitude to Jewell’s nomination. “The Secretary of the Interior should be an advocate for protecting and actively harnessing our Nation’s lands and natural resources for public gain,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said in a statement. “If confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, I hope Sally Jewell would be able to balance the need for both the responsible use of our nation’s energy, mineral, timber and water resources and conservation.”

Jewell Could Impact CO2 Sequestration on Federal Land

Jewell’s nomination to head DOI makes her the first member of Obama’s energy and environment team to be named by the White House after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and, most recently, Department of Energy chief Steven Chu announced their Cabinet resignations over the last several weeks. The nominee for the Secretary of Interior is expected to face scrutiny from Congressional Republicans regarding the regulation and development of fossil fuels on the country’s 500 million acres of public land, as well as offshore leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf.

If confirmed by the Senate, Jewell as Interior Secretary could further expand the role that CO2 storage plays on federal lands. DOI’s Bureau of Land Management issued interim permitting and environmental review guidance for potential carbon sequestration projects in late 2011, which outlined details for processing land use proposals and permit applications for exploration and site characterization studies for potential storage projects. However, that guidance did not go as far as to open up federal lands for the private development of CO2 sequestration.

The move, though, marked one of the more significant steps BLM has made to date to allow CO2 storage sites on federal lands. In 2009, Salazar recommended that Congress create a federal program to select geological formations on public lands that would be ideal for storing CO2. However, no significant action from BLM or Congress followed. Obama’s Interagency Task Force on CCS in 2010 also recommended that BLM, DOI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture “immediately formalize coordination and prepare a strategy to develop regulatory frameworks for onshore and offshore federal lands.”