Senator Ken SalazarIt’s too early to grade former U.S. senator Ken Salazar in his role as the nation’s new Interior Department secretary. So say oil-and-gas industry experts, who want to exploit America’s natural resources, as well as environmentalists, who tend to want to stop them. As Westword writes, Salazar has already ruffled a few feathers, but his biggest task is to “reform the toxic culture inside the sprawling bureaucracy.”

Salazar’s department said yesterday that it will begin to release the details of a report that calculates offshore energy resources in coastal areas, according to Reuters, a move sure to spawn debate about drilling.

Salazar’s ascent to senator was unlikely, as 5280’s Maximillian Potter reported last year in “No Más Mustache.”