Bad, bad news.
[Note: for those readers who think we should just bury our head in the sands while Obama makes his picks without giving voice, this diary is probably not for you!]
Lots of hints suggesting that conservationist Raul Grijalva is OUT of the running for Secretary of Interior. Why would a leading candidate such as Grijalva be tacitly questioning Obama's picks in a NY Times article unless he was make a hail mary pass?
And equally lots indicating that Blue Dog Democrat Mike Thompson, who voted FOR Bush's Healthy Forests Initiative and AGAINST roadless areas in Tongass, is the leading candidate. Here too.
Thompson would be a disastrous pick as this Grist article makes clear:
In 2003, he voted for Bush's controversial Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which enviros saw as a massive gift to the timber industry.
In 2004, he voted against an amendment to an Interior appropriations bill intended to protect wildlife and old growth trees in Alaska's Tongass National Forest by stopping taxpayer-subsidized logging road construction. The measure passed by a vote of 222-205, and he was the only California Democrat to vote against it. He also opposed an amendment to ban the act of bear-baiting in national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands.
He was also one of only 30 Democrats in 2006 to vote against an amendment to the Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act that would maintain areas of the national forests protected under the Roadless Rule. He also voted against another amendment that would have required the Forest Service to comply with environmental protection, endangered species, and historic preservation laws when conducting "salvage logging" operations in national forests. The amendment failed.
Why, why oh why? I am rending my shirt with this... or, rather, I WILL rend my shirt if Thompson gets this job.
This guy gets his campaign money from alcohol vendors, the oil industry, and Safari Club International (whose members actually hunt lions and elephants... and who voted Thompson their "Legislator of the Year").
No, no, no, no!
Please, please... go to change.gov. Click on "contact us". Tell them NO WAY to Mike Thompson. NO WAY! If not Grijalva, then there are plenty of other pro-science and pro-conservation candidates out there! NOT THOMPSON!