Washington, D.C.- In response to President Trump’s announcement of Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s nomination as Secretary of the Interior, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement:

“In nominating a former oil and gas industry lobbyist as Interior Secretary, the Trump administration is doubling down on the same destructive policies and ethical failures that marked Ryan Zinke’s time atop the department.  Throughout his tenure, Bernhardt has used his positions at Interior to push the agendas of his old fossil fuel clients and other polluter special interests at the expense of the nation’s public health, lands, waters, and wildlife. From proposing to open nearly every coastline to offshore drilling, quickly moving to drill in the Arctic Refuge, and overseeing the biggest rollback of public lands protections in our nation’s history, the Interior Department during Bernhardt’s time as Deputy Secretary has been the most anti-environmental in recent memory.

“David Bernhardt is fundamentally unfit to serve as Interior Secretary. LCV urges the Senate to reject his nomination and will continue to fight to protect our nation’s lands and the communities that depend on them.”

###