Washington, DC— In response to the Senate confirmation vote for Ryan Zinke for Secretary of the Interior, LCV Deputy Legislative Director Alex Taurel issued the following statement:

“We remain concerned about Ryan Zinke’s 4% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard, his climate denial and more. A key early test in his new job will be whether or not he caves to pressure from anti-parks extremists pushing Donald Trump to use dubious legal authority to abolish or diminish the size of Utah’s tribal-supported Bears Ears National Monument, which would be the first time any president has attempted to take such an egregious step. We urge Zinke to preserve America’s majestic national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands and waters for all people in this country rather than turning them over to Big Oil and Dirty Coal for private profit.”

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