The Senate voted on Monday to confirm Deb Haaland to be secretary of the Interior Department, ending a tumultuous confirmation process and positioning her to oversee a vast reshaping of energy development on public lands.
Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine joined Democrats in a 51-40 vote.
Other Republicans tried in vain to block Haaland because of her past stance of opposing fossil fuel development, but she still got the least amount of “yes” votes ever for an interior secretary nominee.
KEY DEMOCRATS PUSH BIDEN TO REFORM, NOT END, OIL AND GAS LEASING ON FEDERAL LAND
Haaland, who becomes the first Native American Cabinet secretary, will oversee the future of the federal fossil fuel program after President Biden paused new oil and gas leasing on public lands in his first days in office and initiated a review to determine whether to restart leasing and under what conditions.
Biden promised a ban as one of his signature campaign pledges to help combat climate change, but Democratic lawmakers are calling for the administration to reform the process of oil and gas leasing on federal lands without ending it.
Haaland stressed during her confirmation the pause won’t be permanent while reiterating her interest in resetting how public lands are used to focus more on renewable energy development and conservation.
The pause has already met fierce backlash from the fossil fuel industry and states, including Democratic-led ones such as New Mexico that depend on revenue from oil and gas production to fund their budgets.
Haaland is a former member of Congress from New Mexico, the state with the nation’s most oil production on federal lands, putting her in a tricky position as she implements Biden’s leasing pause and determines how long to keep it in place.
At the very least, the Biden administration has suggested it won’t revert to prior leasing practices that Democrats and environmentalists say are too deferential to the fossil fuel industry and not fiscally prudent.
While in Congress, Haaland said she is “wholeheartedly against drilling and fracking on public lands” and drew national attention by joining tribal leaders in rallying against the controversial Dakota Access pipeline. Haaland is an original sponsor of the Green New Deal.
During her confirmation hearing, Haaland sought to moderate her positions to appease Republicans and centrist Democrats, vowing that fossil fuels will continue to play a role in the country’s energy mix despite her devotion to implementing Biden’s agenda to reduce reliance on oil and gas.
Haaland carefully avoided stating her own policy views and reiterated that she would follow Biden’s agenda.
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She repeated Biden’s promise to create millions of new jobs in developing clean energy, building new infrastructure, and plugging abandoned oil and gas wells.
Haaland’s supporters noted that she moved bills on a bipartisan basis in Congress when she chaired a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee that oversees national parks and public lands.
