While many in the sustainable agriculture community are still in shock today over President-elect Obama’s choice for Secretary of Agriculture—former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack—some are saying it’s not a bad move.

In yesterday’s New York Times, Lee Schipper, a project scientist in global metropolitan studies at the University of California at Berkeley, said that Mr. Vilsack “may have more sway over U.S. greenhouse gas emissions than anyone in the ‘dream team’ presented Monday.”

Still, Mr. Vilsack’s nomination has many wondering what impact he will have on many key issues. “As a state senator, he voted for the infamous House File 519 in 1995, which stripped counties of the right to impose restrictions on CAFOs,” writes, Tom Philpott in Grist.