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thisfinecrewNomination hearing of the Honorable Ryan Zinke to be the Secretary of the Interior
When: Tuesday 17 January from 10.00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – AK), Senator John Barrasso (R – WY), Senator James E. Risch (R – ID), Senator Michael S. Lee (R – UT), Senator Jeff Flake (R – AZ), Senator Steve Daines (R- MT),Daines, Senator Cory Gardner (R – CO), Senator Jeff Sessions (R – AL), Senator Lamar Alexander (R – TN), Senator John Hoeven (R- ND), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Ranking Member: Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Bernard Sanders (D – VT), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Al Franken (D – MN), Senator Joe Manchin (D – WV), Senator Martin Heinrich (D - NM), Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D – HI), Senator Angus King (I – ME), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D – IL), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: The Department of the Interior is charged with protecting federal land, including natural resources and national parks and wildlife refuges. Described as a lifelong hunter and fisherman Representative Ryan Zinke -- a former Navy SEAL who has represented Montana’s at-large congressional seat for one term -- might appear to be a strong advocate for the Department's work. However, he appears to have a rather selfish perspective on environmental issues: while he's defended public access to federal lands, voted against transferring U.S. Forest Service land to individual states for commercial exploitation, and consistently voted in favor of maintaining the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is funded by royalties from oil and gas exploration on public lands but intended to preserve other natural habitats, he's also opposed numerous environmental protection measures.
Those listed in an article in the Washington Post include safeguards the Obama administration has provided for temporary wetlands and intermittent streams, the temporary moratorium on coal leasing on federal land, the Endangered Species Act, and efforts to designate new national parks that would diversify the National Park System.
ABCNews lists a range of different issues where Zinke has voted against environmental protection: "He was an original co-sponsor of legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Barack Obama vetoed last year. Zinke has been an advocate for the Montana coal industry and has been critical of the EPA's Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants but, Zinke argues, kills jobs and raises costs for Montanans."
He is also, to put it kindly, skeptical about the reality of climate change, having gone on the record during 2014 that “It’s not a hoax, but it’s not proven science either.”
Despite all this, Politico says that Out of all the Republicans on the Hill, Zinke has one of the strongest track records on conservation and public land issues", so he may be the best of a bad bunch. Another advantage for the Democrats of Rep. Zinke becoming Secretary of the Interior, is that it removes a possible challenger to Senator Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who likely will face a tough reelection bid in 2018.
Also worth noting, in light of the concerns over Trump's conflicts of interest and the influence wielded by Trump family members, is that Zinke was apparently selected over other possible candidates after he "hit it off with Trump’s oldest son, Don Jr., [also] an avid hunter".
Suggested script for calling representatives: If you think the damage Rep. Zinke would do as Secretary of the Interior outweighs the fact he may well be the "least worst option" and the advantage of removing him as a possible opponent for Senator Tester in 2018, here is a suggested calling script: "Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Representative Ryan Zinke as the next Secretary of the Interior because he has consistently voted in the interests of the oil, gas and coal industries at the expense of the environmental protection, and because he is on record as rejecting the considerable evidence for climate change. Representative Zinke's lack of concern for the environment make him make him unsuited to leading the department tasked with protecting federal land, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Interior.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
Note: The hearing for Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, postponed from last week (which we already posted about), is also taking place on Tuesday 17 January, from 5.00pm.
When: Tuesday 17 January from 10.00am
Committee Members: (as at 13 Jan) Chairman: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – AK), Senator John Barrasso (R – WY), Senator James E. Risch (R – ID), Senator Michael S. Lee (R – UT), Senator Jeff Flake (R – AZ), Senator Steve Daines (R- MT),Daines, Senator Cory Gardner (R – CO), Senator Jeff Sessions (R – AL), Senator Lamar Alexander (R – TN), Senator John Hoeven (R- ND), Senator Bill Cassidy (R – LA), Senator Rob Portman (R – OH), Ranking Member: Senator Maria Cantwell (D – WA), Senator Ron Wyden (D – OR), Senator Bernard Sanders (D – VT), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D – MI), Senator Al Franken (D – MN), Senator Joe Manchin (D – WV), Senator Martin Heinrich (D - NM), Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D – HI), Senator Angus King (I – ME), Senator Tammy Duckworth (D – IL), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D - NV)
What the committee should be concerned about: The Department of the Interior is charged with protecting federal land, including natural resources and national parks and wildlife refuges. Described as a lifelong hunter and fisherman Representative Ryan Zinke -- a former Navy SEAL who has represented Montana’s at-large congressional seat for one term -- might appear to be a strong advocate for the Department's work. However, he appears to have a rather selfish perspective on environmental issues: while he's defended public access to federal lands, voted against transferring U.S. Forest Service land to individual states for commercial exploitation, and consistently voted in favor of maintaining the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is funded by royalties from oil and gas exploration on public lands but intended to preserve other natural habitats, he's also opposed numerous environmental protection measures.
Those listed in an article in the Washington Post include safeguards the Obama administration has provided for temporary wetlands and intermittent streams, the temporary moratorium on coal leasing on federal land, the Endangered Species Act, and efforts to designate new national parks that would diversify the National Park System.
ABCNews lists a range of different issues where Zinke has voted against environmental protection: "He was an original co-sponsor of legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Barack Obama vetoed last year. Zinke has been an advocate for the Montana coal industry and has been critical of the EPA's Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants but, Zinke argues, kills jobs and raises costs for Montanans."
He is also, to put it kindly, skeptical about the reality of climate change, having gone on the record during 2014 that “It’s not a hoax, but it’s not proven science either.”
Despite all this, Politico says that Out of all the Republicans on the Hill, Zinke has one of the strongest track records on conservation and public land issues", so he may be the best of a bad bunch. Another advantage for the Democrats of Rep. Zinke becoming Secretary of the Interior, is that it removes a possible challenger to Senator Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat who likely will face a tough reelection bid in 2018.
Also worth noting, in light of the concerns over Trump's conflicts of interest and the influence wielded by Trump family members, is that Zinke was apparently selected over other possible candidates after he "hit it off with Trump’s oldest son, Don Jr., [also] an avid hunter".
Suggested script for calling representatives: If you think the damage Rep. Zinke would do as Secretary of the Interior outweighs the fact he may well be the "least worst option" and the advantage of removing him as a possible opponent for Senator Tester in 2018, here is a suggested calling script: "Hi, my name is ________, and I'm a constituent of the Senator. I want to let the Senator know that I object to Representative Ryan Zinke as the next Secretary of the Interior because he has consistently voted in the interests of the oil, gas and coal industries at the expense of the environmental protection, and because he is on record as rejecting the considerable evidence for climate change. Representative Zinke's lack of concern for the environment make him make him unsuited to leading the department tasked with protecting federal land, and he should therefore not be our next Secretary of the Interior.
Please use the comments to suggest more reasons why the committee should reject the nomination and to suggest amendments to the calling script.
Note: The hearing for Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, postponed from last week (which we already posted about), is also taking place on Tuesday 17 January, from 5.00pm.
