Secretary of the Interior: Ken Salazar

Salazar joins Tom Vilsack as one of the "guardians of the environment" who will head up Obama's 'green team'. A first-term Colorado senator and one of Obama's closest advisors during the transition period (and another basketball fan), the 53-year-old Salazar grew up in poverty, became a farmer and rancher, then worked as an environmental lawyer before entering politics. As Time magazine put it, Salazar, "hails from the wide-open spaces he's now charged with managing". Often seen wearing his trademark
Stetson, the Mexican-American is a supporter of offshore drilling - likely to become a more prominent issue in the near future.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 6, 2009