Udall, McCollum Respond to IG Opening Investigation into Interior Secretary Bernhardt

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by: Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)

Washington, D.C. - April 17, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senator Tom Udall, ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, and U.S. Representative Betty McCollum, chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, responded to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) agreeing to open an investigation into whether senior DOI officials, including Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, violated federal ethics regulations meant to prevent conflicts of interest by participating in matters concerning former clients or employers.

Udall and McCollum requested the investigation in March.

"The American public deserves to have the basic confidence that their Interior Secretary is looking out for their interests – protecting public land, species, the air and the water -- and not the interests of former industry clients. The Inspector General’s investigation into Secretary Bernhardt’s extensive conflicts of interest is a necessary step to ensure that the public interest is paramount in decision-making at the Interior Department,” Udall said.

“Our federal ethics policies and procedures are in place to ensure federal officials are working for the benefit of the American people. It’s important to know that the Inspector General will be looking into whether officials at the Department of the Interior, including the newly confirmed Secretary, may have violated ethics regulations. The Department’s focus should be protecting our public lands and natural resources,” McCollum said.

Interior Department Veteran David Bernhardt to be Confirmed as Secretary

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by: Senator Mitch McConnell (R - KY)

Washington, D.C. - April 12, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the need to confirm more of the president’s well-qualified nominees including his nominee for Secretary of the Department of Interior, David Bernhardt:

“Today, the Senate will vote to confirm the president’s choice to serve as Secretary of the Interior. As I’ve discussed this week, David Bernhardt is no stranger to the Department. He’s served twice before. In fact, this body has confirmed him twice before. Each time, his professionalism and dedication proved us right. As Solicitor and as Deputy Secretary, Mr. Bernhardt has offered capable leadership and a firm grasp on the complex policy environment surrounding our nation’s public lands. And his expertise has not gone unnoticed.

“Praise for Mr. Bernhardt’s nomination to head the Department has poured in from a growing list of more than forty stakeholder organizations; from agriculture, trade, conservation, and Native American organizations. They describe him as a leader whose ‘experience is sorely needed.’ They laud his commitment to ‘make the lands [the Department] manages accessible to the recreating public.’

“So we have before us an opportunity to confirm a well-qualified steward of our nation’s public lands and resources. Yesterday, a bipartisan majority of our colleagues voted to end debate on his nomination. And I hope each will join me in voting ‘yes’ once more later today. Of course, confirming Mr. Bernhardt will be just the latest in a series of many executive calendar accomplishments.

“Following on the heels of last week’s turn back toward the Senate’s historic tradition concerning nominations, we’ve been able to approve a number of the President’s nominees at a much more reasonable pace in the last several days. I’ve noted with particular interest that, for all the breathless warnings my Democratic colleagues issued about the kinds of people we’d be confirming, these unobjectionable nominees have actually mostly coasted through on a bipartisan basis.

“We saw support from both sides of the aisle for Roy Altman to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and for Daniel Domenico to the District of Colorado. We saw an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in favor of confirming General John Abizaid to serve as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a voice voted confirmation for Jeffrey Kessler to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce. These are not lightning-rod people whom my Democratic colleagues would have eagerly debated and investigated for an extra 30 hours. They are the kind of thoroughly qualified public servants who used to sail briskly through previous Senates without opposition.

“And now, even as my Democratic colleagues continue to require us to file cloture on individuals whom they go on to actually support, we’re able to fill out the President’s team at a more reasonable clip. There are still many more empty seats left to fill. But this week’s progress marks a great new beginning -- not just for an administration that needs its personnel, but for the health of this institution.”

See Also:

MERKLEY SLAMS BERNHARDT CONFIRMATION: “THE WORST OF DC CORRUPTION”

McEachin Leads Letter Urging Senate to Oppose Bernhardt Nomination

Documents Requested on Acting DOI Secretary Bernhardt’s Ties with Westlands Water District

by: Jared Huffman (D-CA, 2nd)

Washington, D.C. - April 8, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Water, Oceans, & Wildlife Subcommittee Chair Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) launched a new inquiry seeking documents associated with David Bernhardt, the current Deputy Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Interior, and California’s powerful Westlands Water District, a former client of Bernhardt’s. Serious questions have been raised in filings with the Inspector General and the Office of Government Ethics regarding the conflicts between his work as a lobbyist and lawyer for the irrigation district and now as a top official in the Trump administration.

In the letter sent today to the Westlands Water District, Reps. Huffman and Grijalva wrote:

“Serious questions have been raised regarding the potential conflicts between his [Bernhardt’s] work as a top official at the Department of the Interior (DOI) and his previous work as a lobbyist and lawyer with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck representing the Westlands Water District. These potential conflicts have been described in national news reports and in numerous complaints filed with the Inspector General and Office of Government Ethics. It is essential that the Congress and the American people have a full and complete record of the relationship between Mr. Bernhardt and Westlands so these questions can be answered, and potential conflicts of interest can be addressed.”

The letter requests all documents associated with David Bernhardt and his work relating to his former water district client, including his work to weaken Endangered Species Act protections and to pursue funding for the raising of Shasta Dam over the objections of the State of California.

You can see the full text of the letter here.

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GOVERNOR WALKER ISSUES STATEMENT ON DEPT. OF INTERIOR’S FIVE-YEAR OFFSHORE LEASING PLAN

Source: Alaska Governor’s Office



Anchorage, AK - January 8, 2017 - (The Ponder News) -- Governor Bill Walker issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Interior released its new draft Five-Year Oil and Gas Offshore Leasing Program for the Outer Continental Shelf. The proposal includes 19 lease sales in Alaska.

“The Department of Interior’s draft five-year offshore leasing plan is an important step toward allowing Alaskans to responsibly develop our natural resources as we see fit. My administration is committed to responsible resource development, and has established a pattern of working successfully with our Congressional Delegation and federal agencies to unleash Alaska’s energy potential. I thank Secretary Zinke for his Department’s work on this plan, and invite him to cooperatively engage with Alaskans as the plan’s development process continues. We look forward to continued dialogue to ensure that any offshore development takes into account environmental and safety concerns, and robust input from community residents who live, work, and subsist in the lease sale areas included in this proposed plan.” –Governor Bill Walker

The Department’s proposed plan for Outer Continental Shelf leasing for 2019-2024 is available here .


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Congressman Lowenthal Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Require Online Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Pollution from Energy Production on Public Lands

Source: Alan Lowenthal (D-CA, 47th)



Washington, D.C. - October 27, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Congressman Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), joined by members of the Safe Climate Caucus and bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, has introduced legislation to promote greater transparency in federal energy leasing programs by requiring the Department of the Interior (DOI) to publicly disclose the amounts and sources of greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel development on public lands.

Although the exact number is uncertain, numerous studies estimate that nearly 25 percent of the U.S. energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are from fossil fuel production on U.S. federal lands and waters.

The Transparency in Energy Production Act of 2017 would require the DOI to create an online database of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels extracted from public lands, including all vented, flared, and leaked natural gas and all fossil fuels used on-site. The bill would also mandate an annual DOI report on the amounts of energy produced by renewable energy projects on public lands. The DOI would also be required to submit an annual report to Congress on the department’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuel development on public lands.

“The foundation of any successful plan to reduce emissions is to first quantify the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being emitted and where are they coming from,” Congressman Lowenthal said. “Increasing the transparency around energy production programs on federal lands and waters, especially when it comes to methane emissions, would go a long way toward eliminating what has often been called the “blind spot” of our federal energy program.“

In a 2016 report entitled Oil and Gas: Interior could do more to account for and manage natural gas emissions, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the DOI does not collect the necessary information to understand and limit emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. This lack of information keeps the American public from learning the amount of climate-damaging greenhouse gas pollution originating from their public lands.

This legislation is even more critical since the DOI’s Bureau of Land Management today officially rescinded its Obama-era instructions to consider climate change and to weigh the potential for increasing greenhouse gas emissions before approving energy projects.

“My legislation would direct the Department of the Interior to develop an online database that collects and centralizes the production and emissions data from fossil fuel development on public lands. The American people deserve transparency and have the absolute right to know how their government is impacting the environment,” Congressman Lowenthal said.

“This bipartisan legislation will increase the transparency of federal management of taxpayer-owned energy resources by requiring agencies disclose production and emissions information. No responsible manager would hide this information from the asset owners,” Senior Director of The Wilderness Society’s Energy and Climate Program Chase Huntley said.

Congressman Lowenthal’s Transparency in Energy Production Act of 2017 is cosponsored by Congress Members Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Niki Tsongas (D-MA).