Public Lands & Waters Defense
Friends of the Earth’s Public Lands and Waters Defense campaign seeks to expose and rout out corruption and conflicts of interest at the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior (DOI). In doing so, we will prevent agency leadership from carrying out rollbacks and land and ocean giveaways that benefit their friends in the fossil fuel industry.
House Democrats must hold administration officials accountable for their unethical and illegal actions. From gutting the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments at the behest of the fossil fuel industry, to rolling back safety standards put in place after the BP spill, to pushing to open over 90% of our coasts to offshore drilling, DOI is racing to turn our public lands and waters over to their friends in the oil and coal industries. The House Natural Resources Committee should convene hearings to investigate the actions of Acting Secretary Bernhardt and other top officials at DOI who have deep ties to these industries.
Through opposition research, media work, and advocacy, we are calling for Congress and the Inspector General's office to engage in oversight and hold DOI accountable — and this grassroots pressure is already yielding results, as you can learn below.
Trump wants to sell off our lands and waters to Big Oil. We need your help to fight for our health and environment at every step.
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Stand Up to Trump Stop the Interior Dept from destroying our wild placesTAKE ACTION
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Green New Deal Tell Congress to support a Green New DealTAKE ACTION
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Climate & Energy Tell Trump’s administration to stop handing over our public lands & parks to corporationsTAKE ACTION
Congress must investigate Bernhardt’s conflicts of interest and hold him accountable for his giveaways to former clients at the expense of the American people.
The U.S. Senate today voted to confirm Daniel Jorjani to be the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior. The confirmation comes despite an ongoing investigation into Jorjani’s role in the department’s unethical public records release process.
Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next top lawyer at the Department of the Interior was placed on hold by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) following revelations that he may have lied to lawmakers about his role in FOIA requests to the agency.
Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke seemingly handed the EPA and DOI over to corporate polluters. They debased these agencies and endangered public health. Americans are relying on the Democrats to stand up, stop these destructive actions and protect people and the planet.
Democrats in the House must hold administration officials accountable for their unethical and illegal actions. They should start with the Department of Interior and its Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is facing no less than 17 federal investigations.
As the director of BLM she could have the power to sell off our public lands to fossil fuel interests, embolden militant ranchers, gut critical environmental safeguards, pollute our vulnerable waterways, and leave an irreversible scar on our wild places.
Ryan Zinke has now followed in the footsteps of former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt: leaving under the weight of his accumulating misdeeds.
The idea of pricing millions of Americans out of visiting our beloved spaces is wholly un-American. Zinke’s decision prioritizes the elite over the general public, and further undermines the challenges facing low-income families and individuals.
Thanks to Friends of the Earth members voicing their opinions, three national monuments have been taken off the chopping block.