Trump taps Ryan Zinke, champion of the coal industry, to be Interior Secretary

Though Congressman Zinke has taken a strong position against the sale or transfer of America’s public lands, he’s championed the coal industry at the expense of U.S. taxpayers and has expressed inconsistent positions on the science of climate change. In his home state of Montana, the oil and gas industry has been Zinke’s largest-single industry donor, contributing $345,136 for his political campaigns. Representing a region—the Powder River Basin—where much of the federal government’s coal is leased, he has been a vocal proponent of coal extraction.