Trump campaign suggests appointing oil executive to protect national parks and public lands

Wanna talk oligarchs with anyone? Anyone who thinks this man will stand for their environmntal concerns is a fool. Share liberally.

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-cabinet-oil-executives-18a5d126b00c#.t5865bx7p

Sources close to Donald Trump told Politico this week that the Republican presidential candidate is considering oil executive and vocal animal rights opponent, Forrest Lucas, to serve as Secretary of the Interior if he is elected to the White House. The Department of the Interior (DOI) oversees 500 million acres of public lands, including America’s 413 national parks, the protection of endangered species, and federal oil, gas, and coal reserves.

Lucas is best known as the co-founder and president of Lucas Oil, a major manufacturer and distributor of automotive lubricants and oils, but he is also active in the anti-animal rights movement. In 2014, Lucas founded Protect the Harvest, a nonprofit group that, according to its website, “exists to defend our way of life, preserve our food freedom, and stand up for your right to farm, fish, hunt, eat meat, and own animals.” The group also actively organizes opposition to the Humane Society of the United States, which it calls a “radical” animal rights group.

Critics contend that an Interior Department run by Lucas would be a windfall for the oil and gas industry.

“At this rate, Donald Trump’s cabinet meetings will be so oil-soaked that they’ll need fire retardant carpeting installed in the White House out of fear of setting the place on fire,” Sierra Club political director Khalid Pitts said in a statement. “Putting an oil executive in charge of our public lands and precious coasts in places like North Carolina, Virginia, and Florida is a virtual guarantee that Trump’s promise to throw open season on drilling in our special places will come true if he’s elected.”...more