White House Announces Secretary Ken Salazar as Administration’s Senior Official Responsible for Oversight of Implementation of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative

President Obama is pleased to announce that the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will be the senior individual responsible for oversight of U.S. implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).  As part of the United States Open Government National Action Plan (www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/us_national_action_plan_final_2.pdf) released in September, the President announced that the United States, a long-time champion of EITI, would itself implement EITI in order to ensure that taxpayers receive every dollar due for extraction of our natural resources. Secretary Salazar and his staff will work with industry and civil society to develop a sensible plan to disclose relevant information about revenues from oil, gas, and mining assets, and to enhance the accountability and transparency of our revenue collection efforts.  Under Secretary Salazar’s leadership, the Department of Interior has a strong record of partnering with industry and citizens to make important strides in reforming the management of our natural resources, and EITI is just the latest in a long series of steps designed to make the U.S. government more open and more accountable to the American people.