Last week it was reported reported that Donald Trump was slated to offer the post as Secretary of the Interior to Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
We never got any detailed confirmation of that posting, and today it has been announced that Interior would go to, instead, Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana.
Zinke, a first-term Congressman, sits on the House Natural Resources and the Armed Services committees.
The Washington Post:
Zinke has defended public access to federal lands even though he frequently votes against environmentalists on issues ranging from coal extraction to oil and gas drilling. This summer, he quit his post as a member of the GOP platform-writing committee after the group included language that would have transferred federal land ownership to the states.
Make no mistake, however. Even though he does not have the pure “drill baby drill” outlook that McMorris Rodgers seemed to have, he’s still a full-fledged developer who would be in charge of our nation’s national resources.
The Post:
Zinke recently criticized an Interior Department rule aimed at curbing inadvertent releases of methane from oil and gas operations on federal land as “duplicative and unnecessary.”
“Clean air and clean water are absolute top priorities when we talk about responsible energy development, however the final rule issued by the Obama administration does nothing to further protect our resources,” he said in a statement. “This rule is a stark reminder that we need to invest in infrastructure projects like the Keystone pipeline, so we don’t need to flare excess gas.”
However, notes the Post story: He has sometimes disagreed with Republicans on some issues, including opposing a measure by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) that would have allowed each state to buy up to 2 million in U.S. Forest Service land to boost timber production. He has also supported full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Environmental groups will certainly oppose Zinke, who gets a lifetime rating of 3 percent from the League of Conservation Voters. (McMorris Rodgers had received a rating of 0 from that organization, so I guess he’s somewhat of an improvement.)
The Post story does also note that if Zinke is confirmed, it could take a powerful opponent away from Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who will be facing reelection in 2018.
Wednesday, Dec 14, 2016 · 12:30:02 AM +00:00
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Senor Unoball
rugbymom asked about Zinke’s positions regarding Native Americans. I did a quick google and found a few things.
Here’s a story from Indian Country Today:
Tribal sovereignty and respect is an important part in federal recognition. Tribal government must be seen as a relationship of equals. Sovereignty means something. The Blackfeet Tribe has earned its status as a warrior nation. Many military veterans come from their people who have defended the United States. That status is very clear to me as a former unit commander. It cannot be overlooked.
Here is a link to his House website regarding Native issues.