Senate Confirms Lobbyist Bernhardt as Interior Deputy Secretary

WASHINGTON – The Senate today confirmed lobbyist David Bernhardt as the deputy Interior secretary.

The following is a statement by Scott Slesinger, legislative director of the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“Mr. Bernhardt’s confirmation is another disturbing example of the Trump administration letting a polluters’ advocate police the same industries that paid him generously to push their anti-environmental agenda. Even worse, Mr. Bernhardt presided over a shameful period of scandal and scientific misconduct as Interior’s top ethics lawyer during the Bush administration. This is the fox guarding the henhouse, except it’s the American people and their shared natural heritage that’s in danger.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.