Here’s more on Sally Jewell, plus an interview..below is an excerpt.
Jewell was born in England but moved to the Seattle area before age 4. She has led Kent, Wash.-based REI since 2005. She served as chief operating officer for five years before taking the top job and worked for nearly two decades in commercial banking before that. She also has worked as an engineer for Mobil Oil Corp.
Jewell emerged as a frontrunner for the Interior post in recent days, edging out better-known Democrats such as former Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. The Interior job traditionally has gone to politicians from Western states. Salazar was a Colorado senator before taking over at Interior in 2009.
Jewell donated $5,000 to Obama’s re-election effort and has supported other Democrats, campaign finance records show.
Jewell is the first woman Obama has nominated for his second-term Cabinet and a prominent representative from the business community.
Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune called her a champion in the effort to connect children with nature.
Tim Wigley, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents the oil and natural gas industry, said Jewell’s experience as a petroleum engineer and business leader “will bring a unique perspective to an office that is key to our nation’s energy portfolio.”
Sharon’s thoughts: In comparison to Salazar, or even Ritter, Ms. Jewell has never lived the day-to-day public lands conflicts, and seems to have an urban background, seeing the challenge as “connecting urbanites with nature.” However, let’s face it, we are not doing that well ourselves with resolving disputes, and she could possibly help change the “battle for the environment” culture through a fresh way of looking at our world. It’s not “we pure enviros” and “those evil timber/oil and gas/skiing/OHV beasts” as much as how are we going to live together, take care of our moutains, our prairies, our deserts, our water and wildlife, and our people, rural and urban. There is an area of common ground ripe for exploration by new and different people, with new and different ideas. In my opinion.