Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Houston, TX -- Today, in his remarks at an energy conference in Houston, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made his preference for supporting the oil and gas industry over protecting our public lands and waters clear.
He claimed that it’s Interior’s job to be a “partner” to the oil and gas industry and that regulatory delays of pipelines and drilling projects are “un-American.”
Zinke is currently overseeing the administration’s proposal to expand offshore drilling into nearly all of America’s waters, plans to expose more of our public lands to drilling and mining, and the largest rollback of protections for public lands in history.
In response, Lena Moffitt, Senior Director of the Sierra Club's Our Wild America Campaign, released the following statement:
“Ryan Zinke is like a firefighter who thinks it’s his job to burn people’s houses down. The Department of the Interior is tasked with protecting our public lands and waters for the public good, not easing the way for corporate polluters to drill, frack, and mine them for their own profits. If Zinke is this confused about what his job entails, he should find a different one.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.