Trump changes Interior Department’s mission to benefit energy industries

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch—especially after breaking bread with oil and gas lobbyists at President Trump’s hotel near the White House. Could it be just a coincidence that his agency’s motto has now changed to something much friendlier to his polluter pals? Here is the Interior Department’s former mission statement: “The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities.” Under the Trump administration, the agency’s mission statement has undergone a not-so-subtle shift: “Our Mission: Protecting America's Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future—The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America's natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future.” Trump’s new budget proposal for the department reflects its new anti-science, pro-polluter mission, most notably by increasing the budgets for the Bureau of Land Management’s oil and gas program by $16 million and coal program by $8 million. Those boosts, however, come with big cuts to the renewable energy program ($16 million) and eliminating the climate change program altogether.