Make the call! Oppose land giveaway Trump nominee Bernhardt

Western Values Project
A Voice for the Majority in the American West








“Interior Dept. nominee [David Bernhardt], set for confirmation vote Monday, is accused of conflict of interest” -- Washington Post

Mike,

After months of opposition from stakeholders across the political spectrum, the Senate will vote on Monday on David Bernhardt’s appointment as Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior. We can’t let that happen -- his confirmation would jeopardize the progress we’ve made to keep public lands in public hands.

Call your Senators NOW to tell them to vote No on Bernhardt -- you can find the names and phone numbers of your state’s Senators here.

Since his previous tenure at DOI during the Bush administration, Bernhardt’s been focused on a single goal: turning over land that ought to be conserved for public use to private hands. He was such an asset for special interests that, after he left the DOI, he was hired by a federal lobbying firm to help push their harmful policies. Simply put, Bernhardt has far too many conflicts of interest to be an advocate for the American people when it comes to the stewardship of our public lands.

This is our LAST CHANCE to stop him, Mark! Contact your Senators and tell them to REJECT David Bernhardt (find their information here)!

Thank you for standing with us,

Chris Saeger
Executive Director

Confirmed yesterday. Far worse than Zinke. This no time to lose track of Trump/Republican drill it/sell it agenda for public lands.

the man widely expected to oversee major policy decisions back in Washington is David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist and Trump transition official who served in senior positions in the Interior Department under George W. Bush.

Mr. Bernhardt, who was confirmed by the Senate on Monday as the deputy interior secretary, has generated criticism from environmental and government watchdog groups that his new role will create a conflict of interest, as he oversees new proposals that could directly benefit his former clients.

As a partner in the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Mr. Bernhardt lobbied for the oil companies Cobalt International Energy and Samson Resources. His legal clients have included the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Halliburton Energy Services, the oil and gas extraction firm once led by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

During his confirmation hearing in May, Mr. Bernhardt told senators that he would assiduously avoid potential conflicts of interest.

“If I get a whiff of something coming my way that involves a client or a former client for my firm, I’m going to make that item run straight to the ethics office,” he said. “And when it gets there, they’ll make whatever decision they’re going to make. And that will be it for me.”



But among the first decisions awaiting Mr. Bernhardt is a proposal backed by several of his former clients. Oil companies have pushed for years to recombine two Interior Department offices, one that collects revenue from the oil and gas companies that drill on federal lands and waters, and another that oversees and enforces safety and environmental regulations of that drilling.





Those offices were split on the recommendation of a commission that investigated the causes of the 2010 rupture of the Macondo well in the gulf. Separating the jobs of oil revenue collection and safety oversight would break up an internal culture that prioritized the promotion of drilling over safety, the commission said.

“Reversing this decision does not sound like a positive response to the Macondo disaster,” said William Reilly, a Republican co-chairman of that commission and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. “I have yet to see a convincing rationale for moving back to pre-BP rules.”