text: Views on energy security The Vilsack Energy Security Agenda set out a strategy to dramatically reduce U.S. reliance on foreign energy and to cut the United States' carbon emissions. It also called for replacing the Department of Energy with a new Department of Energy Security, to oversee and redefine the federal government's role in energy policy. The reorganized department would have acted as an institutional advocate for innovation in energy policy and was intended to ensure accountability as the nation works towards achieving its energy security goals. Through this new department, America's overriding objective in energy policy would have been to make America the unquestioned leader in clean energy, enhancing national security and economic strength.
  In a 2007 lecture to the Commonwealth Club of California, Vilsack stated:
  Secretary of Agriculture (2009–2017)
  Appointment
  On December 17, 2008, then-President-elect Barack Obama announced his choice of Vilsack as the nominee to be the 30th Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack has governed a largely agricultural state as did the previous two Secretaries of Agriculture, Mike Johanns (who was later a United States Senator from Nebraska) (2005–2007) and Ed Schafer (2007–2009).
  The Senate confirmed Vilsack's nomination for the position by unanimous consent on January 20, 2009.
  Reaction to Vilsack's nomination from agricultural groups was largely positive and included endorsements from the Corn Refiners Association, the National Grain and Feed Association, the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Vilsack was the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership, and was named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization, an industry lobbying group.