ICYMI: More Than 300 Environmental Groups Condemn the Nomination of Daines-Backed William Perry Pendley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 5, 2020

ICYMI: More Than 300 Environmental Groups Condemn the Nomination of Daines-Backed William Perry Pendley
Groups Say the Senate Has a “Constitutional and Moral Duty” to Reject Pendley

Helena, MT – This week, more than 300 environmental groups, including several from Montana, called on the Senate to oppose William Perry Pendley’s nomination for Director of the Bureau of Land Management. In a letter written to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the groups wrote that Pendley’s record makes “abundantly clear that he is abjectly unfit to lead any government agency and particularly the BLM” and that the Senate has a “constitutional and moral duty” to reject him.

This outpouring of condemnation comes as Senator Steve Daines stood by Pendley for months, calling the backlash against his leadership “overblown.” Daines’ brushed aside Montanans’ legitimate worries about Pendley despite his avid support for “selling off almost all public lands” and his claims that concerns about climate change come from “kooks” who are “preaching fear.” Only in recent weeks has Daines attempted to backtrack in an obvious political about-face with a spokesperson saying he “has not made a final decision” on Pendley’s nomination.

“It’s always been clear that William Perry Pendley threatens the Montana way of life and has no business leading the BLM,” said MDP Communications Advisor Christina Wilkes. “Yet, Steve Daines stood by him anyways – his recent half-hearted backtracking can’t erase his history of supporting Pendley who has been on a career-long crusade to sell off public lands.”

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