Trump Interior pick to clarify stance on
federal land development
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[January 17, 2017]
By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate
committee will grill President-elect Donald Trump's pick to run the
Department of the Interior, Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana, during a
confirmation hearing on Tuesday that is likely to focus on how he would
balance development and conservation on America's vast public lands.
The former Navy SEAL commander, an avid hunter and angler, emerged as a
surprise pick to head the department in part because he has embraced
federal stewardship of national parks, forests and refuges - rejecting
the Republican party's official position to sell off acreage to states
that might prioritize drilling, mining and grazing in some areas.
While an advocate for federal control, Zinke has also fought for
increased coal mining on federal lands, a position that has worried
conservationists but fits neatly with Trump's vows to bolster the U.S.
energy sector by scaling back regulation and opening up more
publicly-held land to development.
The Interior Department oversees territories covering a fifth of the
country's surface from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, comprising
sensitive wildlife habitats, iconic landscapes, and overlying rich
deposits of oil, gas and coal and important pasture lands for ranchers.
Over the last eight years, the Interior Department has sought to limit
industry access to federal lands and played a key role in President
Barack Obama's agenda to combat climate change, as it proposed rules
aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from energy production on
federal land.
Obama's Interior Department banned new coal mining leases on federal
property early in 2016, and more recently placed parts of the offshore
Arctic and Atlantic off-limits to drilling and declared national
monuments that protect large parts of Utah and Nevada from development.
As a first-term congressman, Zinke pushed to end the coal moratorium,
saying it had resulted in closed mines and job cuts, and introduced a
bill expanding tax credits for coal-burning power plants that bury
carbon dioxide emissions underground. He has also supported the Crow
Indians in his state, who want to mine and export coal through terminals
in the Pacific Northwest.
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U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT) arrives for a meeting with
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New
York City, U.S., December 12, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File
Photo
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state, the top Democrat on the
Senate energy and natural resources committee holding the hearing,
is likely to press Zinke on whether he would adopt recommendations
by the current Interior Department to reform federal coal leasing to
ensure companies pay higher royalties and account for its impact on
climate change.
Lawmakers are also expected to seek clarity on Zinke's commitment to
keeping public lands in federal control, after he voted with fellow
Republicans on the first day of the new session on a provision
tucked into a broader rules package that could make it easier to
transfer federal lands to states.
Zinke's hearing will be the first of three cabinet heads Trump has
chosen to oversee his environment and energy portfolio to face
Senate scrutiny this week. Trump's pick to lead the Environmental
Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, will
testify Wednesday, and Trump's choice for Energy Secretary, former
Texas Governor Rick Perry, will testify Thursday.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Mary Milliken)
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