President Donald Trump Ryan Zinke鈥檚 former deputy to be Secretary of the Interior. Given the GOP-controlled Senate鈥檚 history of kowtowing to this administration, it seems听a given that David Bernhardt will be confirmed. And that鈥檚 bad. Really bad.听
It would be too massive of an undertaking to sum up all the reasons why Bernhardt is a poor choice to lead听the Department of Interior.听(If you want those reasons in detail,听.) Instead, let me tell you a story.听
During the latest government shutdown, Bernhardt served as acting Secretary of the DOI.听That means he had control of the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 听federal land agencies. of DOI employees were furloughed during that 35-day听shutdown. That meant Native American tribes , national parks , and important scientific work being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and Fish and Wildlife Service . Yet, while all that damage was being done, Bernhardt dedicated himself to finding a way to make sure the BLM was . It also looks like he may have used the shutdown as a way to push through approvals for drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge .听
That was just 35 days of work for Bernhardt. In addition to his commitment to drilling in ANWR, Bernhardt has stated that that . He served as deputy in a DOI that has presided听over the largest reduction in public lands protections in history.听2.3 million acres of that land听during the first quarter of this year.听
One of the most famous anecdotes about Bernhardt is that, when he took office as Zinke鈥檚 deputy in 2017, he had to carry around 听detailing all the various conflicts of interest created by his former job lobbying for the , , and . Even scarier is that carrying around that little card outlining听all those conflicts听didn鈥檛 stop Bernhardt听from .听
“David Bernhardt spent much of his career lobbying for fossil fuel and agricultural interests, and the president putting him in charge of regulating his former clients is a perfect example of everything wrong with this administration,鈥 says House Natural Resources Committee Chairperson Ra煤l Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona. 鈥淲e intend to conduct vigorous oversight of Mr. Bernhardt鈥檚 industry ties and how they may influence his policy decisions.鈥
That Grijalva is now running oversight on the DOI is the only encouraging thread in any of this. But Bernhardt has a proven track record as a master manipulator of political and legal processes. If any of Trump鈥檚 cabinet picks are听skilled at avoiding oversight and moving forward with the agenda of extraction industries, it鈥檚 Bernhardt.听
The next two years could be very dark ones for our public land. Let鈥檚 just hope it鈥檒l be possible to听undo all the environmental carnage Bernhardt is about to wreak.听