We are jeering the confirmation of former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as the 55th Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior is supposed to protect and manage the nation’s public lands, its wildlife and natural resources , not ‘drill, baby, drill.”

It’s alarming to have a Secretary of the Interior that touts “clean coal” fairytales rather than sensible clean energy. Not only is the governor of the third-largest oil producing state allies with fossil fuel titans, records obtained by the Associated Press reveal Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry as he was profiting from the lease of family land to oil companies.

Notably, North Dakota sued the Interior Department at least five times under Burgum.The litigation includes a case aimed at undoing the Department’s hallmark Public Lands Rule that designated the conservation of public lands as a use equal in importance to natural resource exploitation.  

Not to mention, when the pro-duck hunting Ducks Unlimited applauds the confirmation, birds and other animals are only treated like targets. It’s bad enough that hunting is already allowed at more than 400 of the 570 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System spanning the country.

We won’t hesitate to sue him to keep him accountable to the rest of the public and the law.