Obama's pick for the Interior Department has weighed in on a number of issues, including oil shale development, that are key to Utah as a Democratic senator representing neighboring Colorado.

Salazar originally secured a moratorium on developing oil-shale, which is basically a kind of oil that permeates porous rocks primarily in Utah's Uintah and Duchesne counties. But later he opted for a go-slow approach pushed by U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to explore oil share reserves - including an estimated 77 billion barrels of crude oil equivalent in Utah.

Colorado-born and a Latino, Salazar is an iconic westerner who typically wears a cowboy hat and bolo tie. He talks about the need to push the U.S. toward energy independence, along with a charge to protect open spaces and national parks. The Interior Department includes the U.S. Geological Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Minerals Management Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

He's also weighed in on such issues as the shipment of chemical weapons from Colorado to Utah for destruction - he was against it - and Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's airport bathroom sex bust. Salazar, an Ethics Committee member signed a bipartisan letter last February that said Craig's actions constituted "improper conduct which has reflected discreditably on the Senate."