First off, we relay yesterday’s press release from the nonpartisan conservation organization, The Center for Western Priorities:

DENVER—President-elect Donald Trump announced at Mar-a-Lago tonight that he intends to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to serve as Secretary of the Interior.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:

“Doug Burgum comes from an oil state, but North Dakota is not a public lands state. His cozy relationship with oil billionaires may endear him to Donald Trump, but he has no experience that qualifies him to oversee the management of 20 percent of America’s lands.

“Running the Interior department requires someone who can find balance between recreation, conservation, hunting, ranching, mining, and—yes—oil drilling. If Doug Burgum tries to turn America’s public lands into an even bigger cash cow for the oil and gas industry, or tries to shrink America’s parks and national monuments, he’ll quickly discover he’s on the wrong side of history.”

In April 2024, Doug Burgum and oil billionaire Harold Hamm organized a dinner at Mar-a-Lago where Donald Trump suggested oil and gas executives raise $1 billion for his campaign. At the dinner, Trump promised the executives they’d save far more than that after he repealed President Biden’s climate policies.

Quick facts

• The federal government owns less than 4 percent of North Dakota’s land — 1.7 million acres out of 44.4 million total acres.
• Seventy percent of Western voters want to protect clean water, air quality and wildlife habitats while providing opportunities to visit and recreate on public lands, compared to just 26 percent of voters who would rather ensure more domestic energy production by maximizing the amount of public lands available for responsible oil and gas drilling and mining, according to Colorado College’s 2024 State of the Rockies poll.
• Prioritizing conservation over maximizing energy production received majority support among Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the poll.

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Second, regarding the utter disgrace of COP29, we relay a quote from Dawda Cham, representing the Gambian NGO HELP-Gambia :

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