A member of the Laguna Pueblo, Haaland has been a harsh critic of fossil fuel development, a view that has made her nomination one of Biden’s more contentious choices. And she may also face tough questions from Democratic Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Joe Manchin, who is the most pro-fossil fuel democrat and whose opposition may have sunk another Biden nominee, Neera Tanden. brought.
Haaland has been a rising star among progressives since her election to Congress in 2018 Growing up in poverty, her official revelations show that she is still paying off the loans from the University of New Mexico law school that she obtained in 2006. She worked on former President Barack Obama’s campaign in the state in 2012 and later chaired the state’s Democratic Party. , where she was credited with restoring the finances and rebuilding it after electoral losses.
The GOP opposition to her appointment is led by sens. Steve Daines of Montana and John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, white lawmakers from states with a significant American Indian population. Lummis destroyed Haaland’s ‘extreme views’, while Daines and Barrasso called her ‘radical’ – and Daines suggested that he try to block her nomination altogether.
The three have called her opposition to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, projects she would have little influence on if she became Secretary of the Interior. (Biden has already blocked the Keystone XL pipeline.) And they have opposed early executive action by Biden stopping new leases for oil and gas drilling on federal land and waters, which contribute about 20 percent of US production.
But several Native Americans told POLITICO that the senators’ harsh criticism of Haaland, before having a chance to allay their concerns, reminds them of the stereotyping and rejection tribes have long experienced in their dealings with the US government.
Montana Democratic Representative Tyson Running Wolf, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, called the Republican opposition a “ political trick ” known among Native Americans who entered politics, where there is a “ prejudice from others that you are 25-30 percent stupid. “
“It’s wrong they didn’t give her the chance,” Running Wolf said. Let her bring some of those homegrown Native American values that she grew up with and established from her home, and take them and surprise people. And then have her work evaluated. “
Both Morigeau and Running Wolf signed a letter from the Montana American Indian Caucus urging Daines and Representative Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) To reconsider their opposition to Haaland’s nomination.
Several tribesmen said young people in their communities consider Haaland and fellow representative Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), Who made history in 2018 as the first Native American women to be elected to Congress, as heroes who helped give indigenous groups a seat. to be given in the table in government decisions.
And they said the reflexive GOP opposition is impossible to separate from the actions of the federal government over many generations that have marginalized marginalized and isolated tribal communities.
Joye Braun, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota who attended demonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline, said she thought Daines, Barrasso and Lummis were primarily against Haaland in an effort to destroy the oil, gas and coal industries. in their states. But she also said she felt an uglier feeling behind their comments.
“I’m not surprised they attack her,” Braune said in an email.
Responding to criticism from tribes, Daines spokesman Katie Schoettler said his opposition to her appointment has nothing to do with her native background and came one-on-one after meeting with her.
“Senator Daines is proud to have a strong relationship with Montana’s Tribes and will continue to work on issues that are important to the Indian country,” she said in an email. “This is about the Congresswoman’s radical views that are totally out of touch with Montana and the nation. The congressman is among the top ten most liberal members of the congress. Her groundbreaking, anti-energetic views threaten Montana jobs, public access to public land, outdoor recreation and our energy independence. “
A Lummis employee said, “Senator Lummis opposes Rep. Haaland for one reason and one reason only: her radical statements and positions on land and energy issues,” while Barrasso’s office did not respond to the request for comment.
Another Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, said in a statement that Haaland would also have a hard time winning his support. Other GOP lawmakers on the committee declined to comment on Haaland’s nomination.
“We are concerned about Rep. Haaland’s track record in energy development,” said Hoeven. “That includes opposition to important energy infrastructure such as pipelines, as well as her support for policies such as the Green New Deal, which raise prices for consumers while increasing our dependence on foreign energy sources. We plan to address these concerns with her at her hearing, and ultimately we need her strong commitment to ensure that taxpayers can take advantage of our abundant energy reserves on our federal lands. “
After a week of delay in scheduling Haaland’s hearing, the committee set a date of February 23 to consider its selection. Hundreds of groups, including tribal representatives and advocates of environmental justice, have done so Senate leaders in a letter called for a “swift confirmation” of Haaland.
Not all Republicans have opposed Haaland’s appointment. Rep. Don Young from Alaska and Tom Cole from Oklahoma, a state with a significant indigenous population, supported her in comments for a November POLITICO Magazine article.
But senators, not members of the House, have the power to delay her nomination. And Indian groups have said that the vehemence of the senator’s complaints against Halaand, a current House member and daughter of a Navy veteran, sounds to their ears like the kind of prejudice they have experienced in American politics for decades.
Other critics said Senate Republicans are scapegoating Haaland in a proxy battle against Biden’s early executive orders that revoke a necessary permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and prioritize clean energy projects. Haaland, the former deputy chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, had backed bills that would have used federal land to expand electrical transmission networks that could connect wind and solar farms to wider markets.
Barrasso, Daines and Lummis collectively received $ 1.8 million in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry in the last election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign funding.
Seeing a nominee to lead Internal Affairs who comes from a different background from the previous heads of the agency and who opposes the oil and gas industry’s priorities may spark Republicans fear, said Julia Bernal, director of Pueblo Action Alliance and a member of the Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico. There were Hispanic men and white women who served as secretaries, but Haaland is a trailblazing choice as a Native American woman.
Haaland “is going to change a world view of how we will manage water, land and natural resources in the future,” said Bernal. “Change is alarming for some people. It’s a paradigm shift. The way we have misused resources and mismanaged land has led to a climate crisis. Seeing a change in who has that power, if that threatens the interests of oil and gas, that certainly reveals what’s wrong with things. “
Haaland’s supporters say the senators’ focus on her previous support for renewable energy and criticism of oil and gas projects ignores what her leadership of the Interior would mean for a country that has spent much of its history killing and banishing Native Americans to made official government policy.
“The senators are probably listening too much to their benefactors and they are probably afraid of Deb Haaland,” House Natural Resources chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) Told POLITICO. “The Interior has been set up in many ways to solve the Indian problem – whether by conquering land, by almost eliminating people themselves, by culture or by forced assimilation. [It’s] when the circle is complete, you will have an indigenous person run the department. I think that as a country we should see that moment as a moment of redemption. “