Today, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior. In so doing, the Senate has recklessly greenlit a man who has devoted his career to advancing the interests of the nation’s worst corporate polluters, including Taylor Energy and Halliburton.

The Department of the Interior’s essential role is to protect our nation’s cultural heritage and our natural resources including national parks, monuments, refuges, and imperiled species.

“Instead of approving a nominee who has a demonstrated record of properly managing our natural resources, the Senate has allowed a fox to guard the hen house,” said Martin Hayden, Vice President of Policy & Legislation at Earthjustice.

“Bernhardt will continue to act in a corrupt manner to help greedy polluters gain greater access to precious resources while weakening vital environmental protections. American families and our future generations deserve far better than this.”

Earthjustice has filed more nearly 130 lawsuits to defend environmental safeguards that have been attacked by the Trump administration.