The election only just happened and we already have bad news already coming from Washington, D.C.
Transcript:
Bad news coming out of Washington, DC. President-elect Trump announced his intentions to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to lead the Department of Interior. This terrible decision will give authority of the nation’s public lands, wildlife and natural resources to a champion of oil and gas drilling.
After the President, the Secretary of the Interior has more power than anyone else in government over the nation’s public lands and natural resources. These include national wildlife refuges, national parks and other public lands, including those leased for oil and gas extraction.
Governor Burgum has incredibly close ties to oil and gas executives, including Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm, who invested $250 million into a proposed pipeline project in North Dakota.
With Burgum as his pick for nomination, Trump is placing a leading “drill baby, drill” oil man at the helm of the agency designed to oversee the management and conservation of federal lands.
So folks, it’s bad news for wildlife and the nation’s climate goals as open season on federal lands for increased oil, gas and coal production has been declared.
Learn more about why politics matters to wildlife at defenders.org.