Montana politics, elections and legislative news

Zinke Faces Tough Questions At Confirmation Hearing

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Congressman Ryan Zinke is sworn in during his confirmation hearing
CSPAN

Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Interior, had a four-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee on Tuesday.

Zinke faced a broad array of questions, everything from management of federal public lands and energy development, to tribal and water issues, to wild horse management and climate change.

He said he’ll approach the job by taking the long view.

"Let’s be bold," Zinke said. "Let’s not come in with agendas. Let’s come in with where we want to be a hundred years from now on our public lands. And there’s certain things we’re going to agree on, I think there’s going to be a lot more we going to agree on than disagree."

In response to a question from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Zinke said he does not believe climate change is a hoax, as President-elect Trump has said. But Zinke said he thinks it’s unclear what influence humans are having on climate change. Sanders countered by asserting that there is scientific consensus that human-induced climate change is significant and dangerous.

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Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.