President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy SEAL commander and a proponent of coal development on federal lands, as his choice for secretary of the interior.
If the Senate confirms Zinke, a Republican, to lead the Interior Department, he will head an agency that employs more than 70,000 people across the country and oversees more than 20 percent of federal land, including national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite.
As a single-term U.S. representative, Zinke took several stances favoring coal, a fossil fuel that suffered during the administration of President Barack Obama as development of natural gas and renewable energy soared.
Zinke, 55, pushed to end a moratorium on federal coal leases on public lands by 2019, saying it had resulted in closed mines and job cuts.
He also helped introduce a bill expanding tax credits for coal-burning power plants that bury carbon dioxide emissions underground to fight climate change, a measure supported by coal interests and some moderate environmental groups. In introducing the bill, Zinke said he wanted to keep “coal, oil and gas communities viable for generations to come.”
Zinke would replace Sally Jewell, who in January put a temporary ban on coal mining on public lands, canceled leases for drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic coasts, expanded wildlife protections and cracked down on methane emissions from industry.
The choice of Zinke surprised some observers because Republican officials had wanted him to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Tester in Montana’s 2018 Senate race.
Many environmental groups oppose Zinke for his commitment to fossil fuels. Bradley Campbell, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation feared that Zinke would be tasked with unraveling Obama’s protections of the environment and federal lands.
“Considering Mr. Zinke’s history of … defending fossil fuel interests, it is likely that we will be facing an uphill battle,” Campbell said.
Zinke, a regular hunter and fisherman, impressed Trump’s son, Donald Jr., who shares those interests. Land Tawney, the president and CEO of the outdoors group Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, said Zinke would bring a conservationist voice to Trump’s leadership team.
Zinke is a proponent of keeping public lands under federal ownership, which puts him at odds with some in his party who would like to privatize the lands or put them under control of the states.
“He’s been great at keeping public lands in public hands and goes against the Republican establishment,” Tawney said.
