Who Is David Bernhardt? (And Why Every Environmentalist Should Care.)

Navy SEALS are known for their incredible endurance and superior ability to get out of tough, high-stakes situations. But ex-SEAL Ryan Zinke, our current secretary of the Interior, likely won’t be able to climb, jump, swim, or rappel his way out of the ethics mess he’s gotten himself into.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt
waits to speak at the annual state of Colorado energy
 luncheon, sponsored by the Colorado Petroleum Council.

If the rumors are true and Zinke’s days in the Trump administration are numbered (rumors that President Trump isn’t doing much to dispel), then Americans who care about the future of our national parks, national monuments, and other public lands should get to know his replacement. Meet David Bernhardt, the Interior Department’s current deputy secretary, whose long Washington résumé suggests that he would happily continue to carry out the Trump administration’s war on public lands and federal waters—albeit with greater legal sophistication and fewer unforced ethical errors than his predecessor.

Read the NRDC story by David Zalubowski/AP - “Who Is David Bernhardt? (And Why Every Environmentalist Should Care.)”