FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2019

HELENA — With David Bernhardt’s confirmation vote today for Secretary of Interior, Montana’s two U.S. Senators made clear their differing priorities. Senator Jon Tester voted against the Interior Secretary nominee who has been roundly criticized for his numerous conflicts of interest and deep ties to industry while Senator Steve Daines voted in support of the career lobbyist set on opening up more public lands
for development.

“We commend Senator Tester on voting in the best interest of Montana and against a nominee who wants to gut the Land and Water Conservation Fund, open up more public land for development and allow drilling in one of our state’s most cherished places – Badger-Two Medicine,” said Whitney Tawney, Program Director for Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund. “It’s extremely disappointing to see Senator Daines do the opposite, voting to confirm a nominee who has spent the majority of his career lobbying on behalf of the companies he is now supposed to regulate.”

Bernhardt has drawn criticism from public land advocates for his support of slashing funding for successful initiatives like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and has been called out by ethics watchdogs for his long-standing relationships with oil and gas companies, which are regulated by the department he will now lead.

In fact, Bernhardt has represented so many oil and gas companies with business before the Interior Department that he reportedly carries a list of the companies just to keep his potential conflicts of interests straight.

A poll conducted in January by Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund found that 71 percent of Montanans believe it’s unethical for former oil and gas lobbyists be given positions at the Department of Interior.

CONTACT
Whitney Tawney
Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund
Email: whitney@mtvoters.org
Phone: (406) 254-1593

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Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund (MCVEF) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to educate citizens and organizations in the basic techniques of effective civic engagement to further environmental and conservation goals. MCVEF programs educate the public about critical environmental and public lands issues; promote greater non-partisan citizen involvement in the democratic process; and provide strategic tools to conservation organizations to be more effective.