Vilsack Nominated Ag Secretary

December 17, 2008 — 

President-elect Barack Obama has named former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as the 30th Secretary of Agriculture.

Mr. Vilsack’s roots are not in farming. A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Vilsack received an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College in New York and a law degree from Albany Law School in 1976. He practiced law in Mount Pleasant, IA until being elected to the state senate in 1992. He was elected governor in 1998.

As a two-term governor and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vilsack supported the development of alternative energy sources including support for tax subsidies for ethanol producers. He also has been interested in cutting subsidies for agricultural commodity crops in order to better fund initiatives to improve environmental practices, according to MeatingPlace.com citing a report in the Chicago Tribune.