Kierán Suckling found and posted a revealing Christmas card on Twitter.
Suckling is Executive Director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a U.S. nonprofit conservation organization that protects endangered species and wild places. The Center is one of several organizations that will be taking legal action and more to protect wildlife and habitat from harmful Trump administration policies.
The Christmas card is from businessman Neil Livingstone and Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT). Zinke is Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior. In that position, Zinke would be responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources.
Livingstone and Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, were running mates in an unsuccessful 2012 bid to be the Republican nominees for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, of Montana.
The Christmas card they sent to their supporters and constituents is a glowing example of Maya Angelou’s famous words of wisdom, “When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.”
Be sure to zoom in and check out all the offensive details, including the assorted “bans.”
Zinke, the fossil fuel industry and the outdoor sporting industry must have cartoon dollar signs in their eyes. Zinke may soon gain the power to plunder, exploit and (mis)manage:
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Endangered species,
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
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More than 500 million acres of public lands,
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The National Park Services and its hundreds of national parks and national monuments,
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The Bureau of Land Management lands,
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National wildlife refuges,
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs,
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The U.S. Geological Survey, and
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Millions of nautical square miles of oceans.
According to a press release issued by The Center for Biological Diversity:
“Ryan Zinke has a dismal 3 percent lifetime environmental voting record. His brief political career has been substantially devoted to attacking endangered species and the Endangered Species Act. He led efforts to strip federal protections for endangered wolves, lynx and sage grouse, voted to exempt massive agribusiness and water developers from Endangered Species Act limitations, and opposed efforts to crack down on the international black market ivory trade."
“Zinke consistently votes for the interests of oil and gas companies, which is not surprising since Oasis Petroleum is his largest campaign contributor and the oil and gas industry is his third-largest sector contributor. He has also voted against and attacked the establishment of protective national monuments on public lands."
And according to a Salon.com article, there’s an additional issue of him being a liar and thief:
Three former unit leaders and a military consultant allege that Zinke was guilty of travel fraud back when he served in Navy SEAL Team 6, according to The Intercept on Tuesday.
They allege that Zinke traveled to renovate his home in Whitefish, Montana, multiple times in 1998 and 1999 despite claiming in his travel vouchers that he was engaged in official duties. Because he continued this practice even after he was caught and reprimanded, he was released from the SEALs after his last assignment with them.
If the thought of Zinke as Secretary of the Interior makes you feel like our wildlife, wild lands and natural resources will be mismanaged and abused, contact your elected representatives. Phone calls deliver the most impact, but it’s good to contact them by both phone and email.
Let them know that during confirmation hearings, you expect them to grill Zinke on his:
Let them know that confirming Zinke as Secretary of the Interior is like putting a fox in charge of the hen house.
And maybe we’ll see Zinke get a swift Congressional kick in the butt that sends him flying to the moon.