Sierra Club Statement on Senate Committee Vote on Nomination of Steve Pearce

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources advanced Donald Trump's nomination of Steve Pearce to run the Bureau of Land Management.

By a party line vote of 11-9, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources moved Pearce's nomination to a vote by the full Senate.

Pearce's nomination has been controversial due to his previous support for selling off federal public lands to private interests and opposition to national monuments. During his time in Congress, Pearce supported expanding oil and gas drilling on federal public lands and led the charge to shrink the size of existing national monuments. BLM manages approximately 245 million acres of public surface land and an additional 700 million acres of subsurface mineral rights.

Pearce is Trump's second pick to run BLM. His first choice, former head of the Western Energy Alliance Kathleen Sgamma, withdrew her nomination after emails condemning Trump's actions during the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, came to light.

In response, Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, released the following statement:

"Having Steve Pearce run BLM is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. He has shown time and time again he will support anything - from drilling on public lands to selling them - except protecting them for future generations. Our public lands cannot afford to have Donald Trump's backup choice in charge. The Senate must reject this nomination."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.