US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stepping down in March

Washington, DC, United States (4E) – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is joining three cabinet members who are parting ways with President Barack Obama as he announced his resignation Wednesday.

The White House confirmed that Salazar is qutting by March leaving Obama with four cabinet positions to fill up in his second term. Already on the way out are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

In his resignation letter addressed to agency staff, Salazar said he is returning to his home state of Colorado to join his family as he fulfilled his promise to serve the Obama administration for four years.

A statement from Obama thanked the former Democratic senator from Colorado for his accomplishments such as promotion of renewable energy projects on public lands, increasing the development of oil and gas production, and helping settle a class action lawsuit against the U.S. government by Native Americans.

Salazar identified “solar energy zones” and pressed for offshore wind power projects along the East Coast. He also imposed a temporary moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the 2010 BP oil spill disaster caused by the leaking of an underwater well following an explosion that killed 11 workers.

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