Zinke says public lands will be better off after drilling and mining them. (Sure…)

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wrote an op-ed promoting more mining and drilling on America’s public lands, claiming that “we can responsibly develop our energy resources and return the land to equal or better quality than it was before extraction.” This, of course, is just another classic “alternative fact” by the Trump administration. The administration is hell-bent on making it easy for industry to drill on public lands (including national parks!) and wants to lock up more of our lands for oil and coal companies. In addition to those actual facts, there are zero instances in which lands have ever returned to their former natural state after fossil fuel companies pillage them. Zinke, who has a B.S. in Geology, must know that making lands better with drilling and mining is total, well, BS.