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Zinke's Successor, the Acting Interior Secretary, Is An Agency Insider And Oil Lobbyist
Trump campaigned to "Drain The Swamp" and people loved that concept. Heck, that's the basis for Senator Warren's largest legislative push in 2018 - end corruption...ie drain the swamp. Our citizens rightly want to end corruption and drain the swamp. Unfortunately for all of us, Trump was knowingly, entirely lying, and is doing the complete opposite. Also, about 40% of the country is too dumb to understand that.
Here's a prime example of precisely the swamp, the Republican Trump swamp.
Zinke has stepped down as interior secretary, resigning as planned amid a series of ethics investigations. The acting secretary is Zinke's deputy David Bernhardt, a lawyer and former lobbyist for the oil industry with longtime experience at the agency.
Bernhardt is a polarizing figure, loved by the industry and assailed by environmental protection groups. Bernhardt has experience in the fossil fuel industry. He worked [TWICE] for for the D.C. lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt where... his clients included Cobalt International Energy and the Independent Petroleum Association of America....and a host of natural-resource extraction companies.
Environmentalists argue it raises ethical questions for someone who worked on behalf of oil and gas companies to then be in charge of managing those resources.
Ummm...yeah.... when the indusry loves you but you work for US, that's corruption; that's the swamp. Why does this matter SO much?
Bernhardt sees himself as a foot soldier for Trump's pro-energy development agenda.... goals include deregulation and relaxing environmental standards for oil and gas companies.
The Department of the Interior manages one-fifth of all the land in the United States, including the wealth of oil, natural gas and coal below the ground. Under the Trump administration, oil and gas leases on public lands managed by the department last year generated $360 million, an almost 90 percent increase from 2016.
"He's thought by many to be the power behind the throne," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of the watchdog group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. He's the one that's been making terrible things happen while Zinke descended into utter corruption.
Bernhardt is widely known to have a surgical legal mind, and he's helped steer some of biggest efforts within the Interior.
....late last year he erased a chapter on climate change from the department's handbook.... advocated for rolling back Endangered Species Act protections and relaxing methane rules for oil and gas companies.
"He views Interior as an entity that should be renamed the Department of Energy and Mining," Ruch said.
Bernhardt’s long experience in Washington and with the law means he is unlikely to make ethical missteps. His lobbying experience gave him deep knowledge of exactly what oil companies want done to benefit their bottom line at the expense of our environment and future. We are screwed.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/15/climate/zinke-interior-successor-bernhardt.html