Ken Salazar

For some in Washington, it's become sport to pick on the federal workforce. I think they do so unjustly. The very foundation of a stable America is having a government that functions well. Many countries have dysfunctional governments, because they don't have a good government workforce.

Shale gas has provided the United States the opportunity to have 100 years of supply that is domestically produced. If we are going to develop natural gas from shale, it has to be done in a safe and responsible manner.

We are talking about institutionalizing a program on solar development that will outlast the Obama administration.

In my time in the U.S. Senate, I tried to craft an energy policy... I will be part of President Obama's efforts to achieve energy independence and enhance the landscape. I am also part of his reform agenda.

Too often in Washington special interests urge us to fight one another just because we belong to different parties. It is time for this to stop and for Washington to focus on what needs to be done.

I don't think anyone can speculate what will happen with respect to oil prices and gas prices because they are set on the global economy.

People who are running for office mislead the American people by saying that there's a three-point plan or a bumper sticker kind of way of bringing down gasoline prices. The fact of the matter is that nobody can do that. The price of oil is set on the global economy. People who have looked at this closely and hard know that's the case.

I work hard and I have a standard of excellence - and I expect everyone at the Interior Department to meet that same standard. I delegate a lot. I might appear to be doing a lot of different things, but there's a strong team helping me. I believe we're going to have the strongest team of any agency in the Obama administration.

I think the future for solar energy is bright.

Hydraulic fracking is very much a necessary part of the future of natural gas.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of my personal heroes.