Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, CNN is reporting that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has said, "diversity isn't important," "I don't care about diversity," and "I don't really think that's important anymore." These reports come shortly after Zinke made a racially insensitive remark -- and doubled down on it -- to Congresswoman Hanabusa. ZInke has also repeatedly ignored the wishes of Tribal Nations from Utah to Alaska in favor of those from the fossil fuel industry. On a recent trip to Tucson, Zinke claimed the Tohono O’odham Nation supported a border wall running through Tribal lands, a claim which was soon discredited. Zinke has also proposed more than doubling entrance fees to national parks, which would significantly limit access to parks for working families, especially low-income and middle-class families according to recent polling.
Last year, Zinke abruptly reassigned 33 senior Interior executive staffers. Nearly 50-percent of those staffers were minorities.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Ryan Zinke is merely putting into words what his actions have told us since the beginning of his tenure. If Zinke cared about diversity, he wouldn’t have ignored Tribal Nations’ wishes to protect their history and their land in Bears Ears and sold them out to corporate polluters. If Zinke cared about diversity, he wouldn’t have made a racially insensitive remark to Congresswoman Hanabusa and then doubled down on it rather than apologizing. If Zinke cared about diversity, he wouldn’t be shutting low-income families out of national parks by hiking entrance fees. And if Zinke cared about diversity, he wouldn’t be traveling the country to promote Donald Trump’s racist wall. Ryan Zinke’s failure to understand the importance of diversity and the job he’s been tasked to fill tells us all we need to know about a man not fit to serve as Secretary of the Interior.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.