U.S. Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Representative Jim Langevin, and U.S. Representative David Cicilline announced that U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will travel to Rhode Island on August 17 to discuss the economic benefits and job creation opportunities of offshore wind energy development and tour the area of the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor that is being considered for possible inclusion in a new national historic park.
Secretary Salazar, who oversees permitting for offshore wind power among his other responsibilities, is scheduled to join the delegation and Governor Lincoln Chafee for a tour of several sites across the state. While he is in Rhode Island, Secretary Salazar will meet with business and community leaders to discuss Rhode Island’s resources and potential for economic expansion.
Senator Reed will soon lead the effort to write the fiscal year 2012 budget for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The House Appropriations Committee recently passed a bill that would gut clean air and clean water laws and included a number of toxic policy riders that would hamper science-based conservation. Senator Reed is committed to working with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the top Republican on the Interior Subcommittee and Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) to develop a more balanced, bipartisan approach.
Salazar will be the 9th member of President Obama’s cabinet to tour Rhode Island. The state received previous visits from the Secretaries of Defense; Education; Homeland Security; Housing and Urban Development; Labor; Transportation; Veterans Affairs; and the Attorney General.
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Source: senate, August 12, 2011