December 13, 2016
Washington D.C. – In response to reports that Trump will pick Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary, Greenpeace climate campaign specialist Diana Best said:
“Trump is on record calling climate change a hoax, and his proposed cabinet is filled with climate deniers, oil and gas industry shills, and hateful bigots. Climate-denying Montana congressman Ryan Zinke will fit right in. Zinke’s real constituency is the the fossil industry and coal companies. He has served his masters by shilling for coal export terminals in states he does not even represent and authoring legislation that would lift the moratorium on leasing public lands for coal extraction.
“Zinke embodies the worst kind of magical thinking in Congress: That government welfare handouts can save dying coal companies and crumbling oil and gas giants. The fact is, coal demand is shrinking globally, and people across America want a Department of the Interior that will protect our precious public lands in perpetuity. That means keeping them off-limits to fossil fuel extraction and recognizing that the world is moving forward. Zinke can wish upon a star, but he cannot stop the clean energy revolution.
If climate change denial is going to be the official position of the Trump White House, then relentless resistance will be the official position of the American people.”
Contact:
Jason Schwartz, [email protected], 347-452-3752
Cassady Craighill, [email protected], 828-817-3328