Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, CQ Roll Call is reporting that a uranium mining firm with mines on the outskirts of the Bears Ears National Monument met with the Interior Department nearly a month before Donald Trump requested his monument review. The email, exposed by the Sierra Club’s FOIA requests, show that now EPA Administrator and former coal and fossil fuel lobbyist Andrew Wheeler requested a meeting on behalf of one of his clients, Energy Fuels Resources, which was held on April 5, 2017. The monuments review did not begin until April 26th.
Energy Fuels Resources own vice president confesses that they request a boundary adjustment to Bears Ears, which was then acted upon by the Administration.
David Bernhardt, the acting Interior Secretary, played a role in the historic attack on national monuments.
Andrew Wheeler, who is already facing his share of scandals despite just ascending to the role of EPA Administrator, failed to disclose the meeting request and meeting itself in his lobbying disclosure forms.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"The Trump Administration's agenda has always been to sell out our public lands first and manufacture a rationale -- predicated on false information -- afterwards. This latest revelation shows yet again they don't even care to hide their dangerous motives so long as they can please the corporate polluters that have directed their every move.
"Congress must continue to thoroughly investigate the Administration’s attempts to subvert the law and shrink our national monuments, as well as Andrew Wheeler’s constant work on behalf of corporate polluters both inside and outside the EPA.”
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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.