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By Adam Markham
U.S. natural and cultural resources—the parks, landmarks and history of America—are under assault from climate change. So it is troubling that Ryan Zinke, Donald Trump‘s pick to run the Department of the Interior (DOI), seems unsure whether climate change is a real problem or not.
Just this week, in an interview with the LA Times Zinke said “The climate is changing, I don’t think you can deny that. But climate has always changed” continuing that “I don’t think there’s any question that man has had an influence” but that “what that influence is, exactly, is still under scrutiny.” And in October 2014, Zinke said “It’s not a hoax, but it’s not proven science either…”
https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/809159835698786304 for the enrichment of the lives of all of us.”
Congressman Zinke has the opportunity to further this vision in the service of us all, but to do so he must acknowledge the role of climate change and most of all, listen to the hundreds of dedicated scientists on the staff of the Department of Interior.
In the past, Zinke has likened energy policy in a potentially changing climate to Russian roulette:
“If we’re playing Russian roulette … you have a one in six chance of that chamber being loaded with a bullet and you spin it, and you’ve got to put it to your head, and squeeze the trigger. So even if there’s a one in six chance … even if it’s a chance of global warming and it’s a catastrophe, then I think you need to be prudent.”
The scientists whose work he will be overseeing at DOI can tell him, however, that there’s more than just one bullet in the gun. Maybe it’s already fully loaded.