( – promoted by Jack McCullough)

UPDATE: VPR confirms that Green Mountain Daily is always right:

Governor-elect Peter Shumlin has picked Secretary of State Deb Markowitz to run the state Agency of Natural Resources.

It's been the rumor for a while that outgoing Secretary of State Deb Markowitz was being looked at to head the beleaguered (and largely Jim-Douglas-decimated) Agency of Natural Resources, and it sounds like a formal announcement of the appointment could come at any time (maybe tomorrow? Just guessing on the timing, there, but…). From a resume perspective, it may seem like an odd fit. SoS is not a job with an environmental component. One would have to reach back into her stint as a staff attorney at the League of Cities and Towns to dig up any kind of eco-record, and that aint exactly like being a park ranger or anything. As far as her views on environmental issues during the campaign, she sounded the right notes, but many in the environmental community were concerned by the lack of specifics and what sometimes sounded like rhetoric on permitting that was overly-accommodating to the right. Really, it is her husband who is known as the big green guy. But there a couple reassuring responses to the above. First, all these agency-head positions are really management positions. If the Governor has a strong vision, the agency head understands and shares that vision, then its a function of how well they'll be able to implement that from the top.

At SoS, Markowitz ran quite hot and cold with folks – folks seem to adore her, or… not (recall, VSEA backed Republican Michael Bertrand against her some elections back… no love lost there). But the fact remains that she inspires strong loyalty (and hard work) from her deputies, and lord knows ANR could use some top-down enthusiasm. As for the issues themselves, remember: Markowitz ran much of her primary campaign as though it were a general election campaign, rhetorically speaking (a mistake, IMO – one that likely ended up costing her the nomination over the long haul). She was deliberately vague in an effort to appeal (prematurely) to self-identifying moderates and even conservatives. Many of her supporters always suggested she was more progressive than she seemed. This could be the position where she shows that. And speaking of the word “progressive,” expect more complaints from Progressive Party members, many of whom loathe her for siding against Anthony Pollina over campaign finance matters. At the time, I thought she made sense, frankly… (ducking)