![In this March 5, 2020, file photo Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., Native American Caucus co-chair, speaks to reporters about the 2020 Census on Capitol Hill in Washington. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP](https://freeamericanetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/biden-interior-secy-nominee-deb-haaland-sparks-fears-over-radical-left-wing-climate-policies.jpg)
In this March 5, 2020, file photo then-Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., speaks to reporters about the 2020 Census on Capitol Hill in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:16 AM PT – Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Republicans are gearing up for a fight over Joe Biden’s Interior secretary nominee. His pick to lead the Interior Department, Deb Haaland, has raised red flags among conservatives due to her hardline stance on so-called climate change.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has spoken out on Haaland’s nomination. In a recent statement, the Republican lawmaker noted her radical climate policies threaten rural Americans’ way of life. Specifically, Daines slammed Haaland’s opposition to the Keystone KL Pipeline and her push to dismantle the fossil fuel industry.
.@JoeBiden is this your idea of unity? The American people need your HELP not your betrayal.
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) February 11, 2021
As a Democrat representative for New Mexico in 2019, Haaland co-sponsored Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal bill, which called for radical changes such as a switch to 100 percent green energy over the next decade and a reduction to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
President Trump warned these goals could have dire consequences for those working in the energy sector and would set the U.S. behind global competitors.
“This would do nothing for the environment, but would cripple American industry while greatly helping China,” he stated. “He (Biden) wants to impose massive energy taxes and job crushing mandates to eliminate carbon from the United States…obliterating American oil, clean coal, natural gas and the natural energy resources that supply countless American jobs.”
That’s great news. We need an Interior Secretary who has the guts to take on fossil fuel CEOs whose greed is destroying the planet. We need an Interior Secretary who will protect our environment. I’m confident Deb Haaland is that person and I am proud to support her nomination. https://t.co/oarQnCcIZg
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 15, 2021
Haaland also has a history of criticizing fracking, writing in 2017 “fracking is a danger to the air we breathe.” Meanwhile, most gas and oil produced in the country is sourced from fracking.
Daines has vowed to do everything in his power to block Haaland’s nomination.