(Promoted by Colorado Pols)
In a contentious exchange with journalists Friday, the acting director of the federal agency in charge of most public lands in the U.S. insisted his “personal views,” which include a denial of global warming and hostility toward immigrants, have no bearing on his job and he repeatedly refused to discuss his opinions on some topics.
But William Perry Pendley, the acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management, contradicted his no-personal-opinion stance by offering strong opinions on other topics.
“You have been clear in the past, on twitter and elsewhere, that you don’t think climate change exists,” New York Times reporter Lisa Friedman told Pendley during a panel discussion at the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference in Ft. Collins. “I’m hoping that you can clarify for us, first, what did you mean by that? What don’t you think exists? Is it, you don’t think greenhouse gases are warming the earth? Is it something else? What scientists do you rely on for those conclusions, and if the answer required is that this is your personal opinion, maybe you could explain to us some concrete things that you’ve done to help inform or discuss this issue and ensure that personal opinions are not at play in making policy decisions.”
“Nope, not going to clarify,” replied Penley, who’d said earlier in the session that, in his role as BLM director, he’d not yet been “briefed” on climate change issues, in his new job, and did not know when he would be briefed. “Those are my personal opinions.”
“I’m a Marine. I follow orders,” Pendley responded, saying his boss, Secretary of Interior David Benhardt, has said global warming exists and humans have an impact. “He’s told me the way it’s going to be, and that’s the way it’s going to be.”
In response to another journalist’s question, Pendley refused to say whether he still thought “illegal immigration is spreading like a cancer,” as he wrote in a 2007 fundraising letter.
“My personal opinions are irrelevant,” responded Pendley, who will be visiting the border next week to inspect BLM land that his agency must clear for use in construction of Trump’s proposed border wall along the Mexican border. “I have a new job now. I’m a zealous advocate for my client. My client is the American people. And my boss is the president of the United States and Secretary Bernhardt. So what I thought, what I wrote, what I did in the past is irrelevant. I have orders. I have laws to obey, and I intend to do that.”
But Pendley was eager to offer his personal opinion on multiple other issues that arose in the session.
When the panel’s moderator asked all the members of the panel for their thoughts on the proposals by Democratic presidential candidates to stop all new fossil fuel leasing from public lands and public waters, Pendley said, “I’ll jump in,” and he slammed the idea.
“I would be absolutely devastating not just to the American West but to the entire country,” he said. “A tremendous amount of the energy we use every day, whether it’s natural gas or oil, comes from federal lands.
“I can give no other word for it than, absolutely insane and a terrible blow to the American people, to the West. We’ll see how that stands up,” he added. “…I think the overwhelming majority of American people would vote against it.”
Pendley’s desire to pick and choose which of his views to discuss leaves much on the table–because he was widely known as a hardened conservative activist, with extreme views, prior to his appointment to his post by Bernhard in July.
He once accused federal land managers and advocates of “tyranny” for “waging war on the West.”
Pendley served under much-criticized Secretary of Interior James Watt from 1981-1984 and was accused at the time of selling coal resources at the Powder River Basin to industry entities at a $100 million loss to taxpayers.
As the long-time Director of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group based in Colorado, Pendley supported Cliven Bundy, the renegade anti-government activist who occupied public lands in a 2014 standoff with the Bureau of Land Management.
On Thursday during an interview on talk radio in Dener, Pendely inched toward supporting folks like Bundy.
The radio host referenced “families fighting with the government” and a “shoot out,” and then asked Pendley about people who feel like the government isn’t on their side.
Without responding directly to the “shoot out” comment by the Libertarian radio host Ross Kaminsky, Pendley framed himself as a defender of the people against government.
“Over the last 30 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with loggers, miners, ranchers, recreationists, canoeists, boaters,” Pendley told KHOW radio’s Ross Kaminsky. “You name it, I’ve worked with them, represented them, gone to the Supreme Court on their behalf. And so, I get their situation vis a vis the federal government.”
“When I was with the Reagan Administration, our desire was to be a good neighbor — [for] the federal government [to] be a good neighbor to local citizens. That’s President Trump’s desire. That’s Secretary Bernhardt’s desire, to be a good neighbor.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: Duke Cox
IN: Who’s Paying For These Racist Anti-Harris Sign Stunts?
BY: davebarnes
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: notaskinnycook
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
BY: Colorado Pols
IN: Who’s Paying For These Racist Anti-Harris Sign Stunts?
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
He's already told us where he stands. Climate change, like the hole in the ozone layer, is a hoax. Also, immigrants are "cancer" and the Constitution requires the federal government to divest itself of all land. He's also a Bundy family fanboy. The world will be a measurably better place when this prick dies.
good point. i clarified the headline.
Right. Because one needs to be "briefed" on accepted science in order to accept what the scientists have accepted. But then the Mountain States Legal Foundation has never been much for science or facts
Let's be accurate here, shall we?
The name of Pendley's former employer is the Mountain States Looters Foundation.
Touche
Let's have a discussion on the carpet-drapes thing with this dude. Can we just all agree that any pictures of him be in black-and-white so it's not so creepy?
The picture appears to have come from the dictionary . . .
. . . under to the entry for “WIF,” a Willfully Ignorant Fuckstick.
I take my comment back. He doesn’t look any less suspicious in b&w.
We all have our little vanities- but it’s weird that our mismatched public lands chief doesn’t realize he should dye it all the head hair the same color, or leave it all au naturel .
Looking like a movie villain does at least warn constituents of a perilous situation, like a skunk’s stripe.
Ross Kaminsky, the "Libertarian" radio host mentioned who interviewed this prick, deserves a column, Jason. He used to be one of the more thoughtful local AM talk show guys, but of late he's following the party lines as much as Peterboil does. My favorite hatemongering statement of his, repeated early and often, is "It's not so much that environmentalists love the earth, as that they hate people." If you think about it, that is fallback "criticism" of ANY attempt to protect lands, wildlife, citizens' health. Dems "hate people".
Would love to see a Clear Channel (iHeartMedia) expose of how marching orders…uh, talking points … are dispensed to these people. AM radio is still a force in Denver. Let the squirming of 2020 begin.
I love the earth, and I hate willfully ignorant stupid people . . .
. . . I’m not seeing any contradiction?
Ahh…those people-hating radical environmentalists. They. Must. Be. Stopped.
Kaminsky's of that breed of "Libertarian" that's really pretty indistinguishable from conservative Republicans, save that they're ambivalent about legalizing weed – iow, the same guys who sat around their dorm rooms in their early 20s, congratulating themselves on having read Ayn Rand and thinking of themselves as self-sufficient iconoclasts worthy of a blowjob from Dagny Taggart. They still haven't grown up.
Agree with you about what a shame it is that Kaminsky has slipped so far from where he started – he was actually kind of insightful, back when he made at least a token effort to adhere to true libertarian principles. Sure, it was always annoying to be reminded hourly that he attended Columbia, that his parents were high-ranking Navy doctors, and that he thinks "finance guys" have special insight into how the world works, but at least back then he wasn't shilling for hair plugs and having his wife do commercials for nose jobs.
Then again, I do like the idea of a habitable planet, so maybe it's just that I hate people.
Kaminsky is still more thuoghtful but also more party line, it appears. But i don't follow him closely enough to know for sure if he's changed.
The problem is huge- Trump has appointed thousands of loyalists into policy-setting jobs at the EPA, Public Lands, Agriculture, and more.
From Colorado alone we have Patrick Davis, former CO Trump campaign chair and grifter extraordinaire, heading up the Western Public Outreach division of the EPA. We have David Bernhardt in Interior, promoting the non-starter Jordan Cove energy project. We have Clarice Navarro, Trump cheerleader, leading the Colorado Farm Service Agency.
Pro Publica has a Trumptown database, that lists all the loyal Trumpers placed into agency leadership positions , which they are almost always unqualified for. Most were lobbyists, campaign officials, conservative “think tank” members. Many have ethics violations or obvious conflicts of interest. Almost universally, their missions are to destroy or handicap the agencies they lead.
It is going to take so long to clean and repair $rump’s damage. I hope we get that chance.