Salazar to revisit recent Interior Department actions

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-salazar28-2009jan28,0,1037237.story

Salazar to revisit recent Interior Department actions

The department's new chief will review many of the energy and environmental decisions made in the waning days of the Bush administration.

By Jim Tankersley

9:17 PM PST, January 27, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday that he was reconsidering a series of controversial energy and environmental decisions handed down in the waning days of the Bush administration, including a move to open federal land near national parks to oil and natural gas drilling.

Opening parts of the Mountain West to oil shale development -- a sensitive issue because of the huge quantities of water required to extract oil from the rock -- will also be reviewed, he said in his first formal news interview since wining Senate confirmation last week.

"I'm very concerned about a number of the midnight actions that were taken by the Bush administration," Salazar said. "We barely have moved in, but we already know enough to know there are many issues we need to revisit."

In addition to oil and gas leases near national parks and the oil shale issue, Salazar said the list of decisions to be reviewed included starting the process for resumption of oil exploration in coastal areas and several rulings on the Endangered Species Act.

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