August 24, 2017
Washington, DC- In response to the Interior Department’s announcement this morning that Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending changes and possible reductions to certain national monuments established under the Antiquities Act, Greenpeace USA Climate Campaigner Mary Sweeters said,
“The recommendation to alter certain national monuments, including reducing Bears Ears in Utah, is the direct result of Secretary Zinke favoring the voices of oil and gas executives instead of the people who submitted nearly 3 million public comments opposing changes to these important places. What could have been protected public lands and waters for generations to come now face the risk of becoming oil fields, thanks to an Interior Department full of oil and gas errand-boys like Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt. The public response to the Trump administration’s review of nearly 30 public land and marine monuments broke records, and the sentiment that these lands and marine regions should remain protected was nearly unanimous.
From Alaska to Utah, people are prepared to stand up to Trump and Secretary Zinke and demand that the Interior Department protect public places from greedy oil and gas developers looking for short-term profit with long-term consequences.”
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Last month, Greenpeace placed a giant sign reading “For Sale: By the US Department of Interior, Public Lands and Waters, Inquiries From Oil and Gas Companies Encouraged” outside of the Interior Department as Secretary Zinke held an event outside the building.
PHOTOS:
http://www.media.greenpeace.org/shoot/27MZIFJX4VS8Q
MEMO on Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt’s Conflicts of Interest:
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Bernhardt-Memo.public.pdf
Contact:
Cassady Craighill, [email protected], 828-817-3328
