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| Ryan Zinke, Into the Sunset | Ryan Zinke, Into the Sunset |
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| Ryan Zinke, the secretary of the Interior Department, is the second devoted cheerleader for President Trump’s boneheaded strategy of “energy dominance” to be ushered out the door. The first was Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like Mr. Pruitt, Mr. Zinke leaves under a cloud of possible ethical violations. Also like Mr. Pruitt, Mr. Zinke promoted the rapid development of fossil fuels — coal in Mr. Pruitt’s case, oil and gas in Mr. Zinke’s — at a time when nearly every reputable scientist says that the world needs to produce and consume less, not more of these fuels, and swiftly replace them with carbon-free alternatives to avert the worst consequences of climate change. | |
| Unfortunately for the environmental community, not to mention the health of the planet, there is likely to be little change in policy at Interior, just as there was no fundamental change at the E.P.A., where Andrew R. Wheeler, an industry lobbyist, replaced Mr. Pruitt. Mr. Zinke’s second in command and possible successor is David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist and oil and gas man to the core. | Unfortunately for the environmental community, not to mention the health of the planet, there is likely to be little change in policy at Interior, just as there was no fundamental change at the E.P.A., where Andrew R. Wheeler, an industry lobbyist, replaced Mr. Pruitt. Mr. Zinke’s second in command and possible successor is David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist and oil and gas man to the core. |
| And lest we forget, the policy is synonymous with Trump himself: His appointees in the environmental arena were chosen for their fealty to the America First energy strategy contained in a series of executive orders early in his presidency aimed at rolling back just about every useful thing President Obama had done to combat global warming and protect priceless public lands from commercial intrusion. | And lest we forget, the policy is synonymous with Trump himself: His appointees in the environmental arena were chosen for their fealty to the America First energy strategy contained in a series of executive orders early in his presidency aimed at rolling back just about every useful thing President Obama had done to combat global warming and protect priceless public lands from commercial intrusion. |
| Despite serving less than two years, Mr. Zinke racked up an impressive number of ethics investigations. At last count, his leadership had spurred some 15 inquiries into a colorful array of purported misbehavior ranging from conflicts of interest to the misuse of taxpayer funds to violating the Hatch Act, which bars federal officials from using their position to influence elections. | Despite serving less than two years, Mr. Zinke racked up an impressive number of ethics investigations. At last count, his leadership had spurred some 15 inquiries into a colorful array of purported misbehavior ranging from conflicts of interest to the misuse of taxpayer funds to violating the Hatch Act, which bars federal officials from using their position to influence elections. |
| Nine of the investigations have been closed — some because Mr. Zinke was cleared, others because his department refused to cooperate. Among the probes to stall because of stonewalling was an inquiry into whether Mr. Zinke threatened a United States Senator, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, over her votes on health care. | Nine of the investigations have been closed — some because Mr. Zinke was cleared, others because his department refused to cooperate. Among the probes to stall because of stonewalling was an inquiry into whether Mr. Zinke threatened a United States Senator, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, over her votes on health care. |
| Of the half dozen investigations still ongoing, one has been referred to the Department of Justice for further exploration, The Times has reported. It has not yet been made public which of Mr. Zinke’s many missteps may constitute full-blown criminality, but a person familiar with the matter says it likely involves whether a potential land deal between Mr. Zinke and the energy giant Halliburton, which the department regulates, constituted a conflict of interest. | Of the half dozen investigations still ongoing, one has been referred to the Department of Justice for further exploration, The Times has reported. It has not yet been made public which of Mr. Zinke’s many missteps may constitute full-blown criminality, but a person familiar with the matter says it likely involves whether a potential land deal between Mr. Zinke and the energy giant Halliburton, which the department regulates, constituted a conflict of interest. |
| With regards to policy, Mr. Zinke has been a faithful servant of Mr. Trump’s vision of energy and environmental policy, such as it is. At a very weird cabinet meeting in June of last year, at which each cabinet member went around the table lavishing praise on Mr. Trump, Mr. Zinke told the president it was “an honor to be your steward of our public lands and the generator of energy dominance.” | With regards to policy, Mr. Zinke has been a faithful servant of Mr. Trump’s vision of energy and environmental policy, such as it is. At a very weird cabinet meeting in June of last year, at which each cabinet member went around the table lavishing praise on Mr. Trump, Mr. Zinke told the president it was “an honor to be your steward of our public lands and the generator of energy dominance.” |
| Generator yes, steward no. His five-year plan for oil and gas exploration opened up vast swaths of America’s outer continental shelf that had been off limits (while exempting coastal Florida as an apparent political favor to the state’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, who was facing a tough re-election bid). He took special aim at Mr. Obama’s last-minute plan to protect most of the Arctic’s dangerous waters from further exploration. He supported Lisa Murkowski’s tax amendment opening up the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and on his own moved to promote exploration in the 22.8 million acres of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, including ecologically valuable areas that the Obama administration intended to be protected in perpetuity. | Generator yes, steward no. His five-year plan for oil and gas exploration opened up vast swaths of America’s outer continental shelf that had been off limits (while exempting coastal Florida as an apparent political favor to the state’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, who was facing a tough re-election bid). He took special aim at Mr. Obama’s last-minute plan to protect most of the Arctic’s dangerous waters from further exploration. He supported Lisa Murkowski’s tax amendment opening up the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and on his own moved to promote exploration in the 22.8 million acres of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, including ecologically valuable areas that the Obama administration intended to be protected in perpetuity. |
| Not least, with Mr. Bernhardt as the architect, Mr. Zinke recently made it much easier for oil and gas companies to drill on millions of acres of Western lands that the Obama administration had set aside to promote the recovery of the sage grouse, a threatened bird. | Not least, with Mr. Bernhardt as the architect, Mr. Zinke recently made it much easier for oil and gas companies to drill on millions of acres of Western lands that the Obama administration had set aside to promote the recovery of the sage grouse, a threatened bird. |
| Mr. Zinke had a Western swagger to him that some found appealing, but on matters of public relations he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. When promoting various policies, he often referred to himself as a professional “geologist,” when in fact he had received only a long-ago undergraduate degree in geology before joining the military. | Mr. Zinke had a Western swagger to him that some found appealing, but on matters of public relations he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. When promoting various policies, he often referred to himself as a professional “geologist,” when in fact he had received only a long-ago undergraduate degree in geology before joining the military. |
| He also made an enemy late last month of the soon-to-be-chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Raúl M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, accusing him on Twitter of being a drunk who used taxpayer money to cover up a personal scandal. Mr. Grijalva, who had earlier called on Mr. Zinke to resign, was restrained in his reaction Saturday. “This is no kind of victory, but I am hopeful it is a genuine turning of the page,” he wrote. | He also made an enemy late last month of the soon-to-be-chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Raúl M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, accusing him on Twitter of being a drunk who used taxpayer money to cover up a personal scandal. Mr. Grijalva, who had earlier called on Mr. Zinke to resign, was restrained in his reaction Saturday. “This is no kind of victory, but I am hopeful it is a genuine turning of the page,” he wrote. |
| On his first day in office, Mr. Zinke rode a horse to work, in plain imitation of Teddy Roosevelt. As president, Mr. Roosevelt protected 230 million acres of American wilderness, including 18 national monuments. Ten months into his tenure as Interior Secretary, Mr. Zinke recommended the withdrawal of some two million acres from two national monuments in Utah established by Mr. Obama and Bill Clinton, the largest shrinkage of public land protection in history. He has not greatly improved on this record since. | On his first day in office, Mr. Zinke rode a horse to work, in plain imitation of Teddy Roosevelt. As president, Mr. Roosevelt protected 230 million acres of American wilderness, including 18 national monuments. Ten months into his tenure as Interior Secretary, Mr. Zinke recommended the withdrawal of some two million acres from two national monuments in Utah established by Mr. Obama and Bill Clinton, the largest shrinkage of public land protection in history. He has not greatly improved on this record since. |
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