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| Proposed Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke |
I felt I needed to take a break from writing, and collect my wits and that is partly that’s due to the fact that the incoming administration will have a profound effect on public lands especially if the oft-rumored selection of Sarah Palin as Secretary of the Interior comes to fruition. (There are also rumors that Palin may be tapped to be the head of the VA, an equally disastrous decision).
Amendment: Apparently Sarah Palin is no longer slated to become Secretary of the Interior and has since been replaced by the equally disastrous Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Goddamnit: looks like Ryan Zinke has now been tapped for the Secretary of the Interior. This is beginning to look like the Great Western Schism when the Catholic Church had more than one Pope.
Shit, I lost my train of thought, where was I?
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about bikes.
So, what does his have to do with mountain biking?
Maybe nothing.
Maybe a lot.
Some soberer minded political reporters have speculated that the incoming president is playing a game. There is some speculation that he is purposely sending up some unacceptable hardliners only to posit a more palatable alternative later, albeit one that’s still in line with his world views.
The appointment of Secretary of the Interior has broad implications when it comes to the Bureau of Land Managment, the United States Geological Survey, National Park Service, and even the National Park Foundation.
Any one who remembers former Secretary of the Interior James G Watt can attest to the fact that the Secretary of the Interior sets a tone in terms of policy. Other than banning rock concerts at the National Mall in Washington DC (most famously the Beach Boys) Watt was also known for his anti-environmentalist, pro business stances.
To say this past election was super heated would be an understatement the net result has been voters have largely rejected establishment Republicans and the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party was dealt a sever blow.
Another thing you could say about the past election is there isn't going to be anything resembling "business as usual" politics for the next couple of years and that is going to affect any pending legislation. At the best of times passing legislation is a Herculean task akin to mucking out the Augean stables. But at the worst of times self-immolation may be more desirable.
Speaking of things that crash pending legislation into a wall...
While the President-elect had won the battle for the highest office in the land his fight is far from over. The Electoral College still remains a challenge (but how much of a challenge the Electoral College presents remains to be seen) and there are still a staggering number of pending lawsuits against the President-elect.
Not to mention the fact that the President-elect is far from popular even within his own party. He’s feuded with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John McCain and Paul Ryan and those fights will become uglier as time goes on.
Whether or not that will result in a Republican Civil War or some version of "Nacht der langen Messer" is any one’s guess.
It should be noted that the Republican Party is far from being homogeneous. There are many factions in the GOP and they include members of the Christian right, traditionalists, Alt-Right, Neoconservatives, moderates, populists and libertarians.
Needless to say not all of the factions get along or play well with one another.
That also means there is trouble ahead for any one that wants to push a bill through Congress.
Despite the fact that the Republicans now control both Houses for the first time since 1928, their majority by no means guaranteed they would get their way. Even the Republican Revolution 1994 stalled due to factionalism.
Especially with an unpopular President.
Coupled with that is the fact that the Democratic Party, by and large, feels no obligation to cooperate with the incumbent president and will do their best to stonewall bills, appointments to the Supreme Court, and become obstructionist pains in the ass.
I can easily see any land access plans dying in community, or having riders being attached to bills rendering them unpalatable to legislators, or bill sponsors being voted out of office because they don't adhere to ideological purity.
There many other scenarios that can grind any pending land access legislation to a halt too.
Hotly contested midterm elections may pull members away from their legislative duties as they fight to remain in office.
Depending on the success of the President-elect new populist anti-Washington, anti-big business legislators may be voted into office.
An international crisis can also derail even the best-laid plans - especially if there's a major conflict in Eastern Europe instigated by an embolden Russian Federation.
An overturn in the election by the Electoral College may plunge things into chaos especially if the alt-right assholes launch their boner inducing insurgency they've been having wet dreams about for decades.
A Constitutional crisis can also grind any legislative momentum to ha halt especially if that means impeaching or removing a president.
Another financial crisis can scuttle any grandiose legislation, no matter how important or well-meaning.
Any one wanting to pass land access legislation has their work cut out for them. They are going to have to balance the demands of industry, legislators, people's lands that are in or near public lands, and a variety of antagonistic user groups. Not to mention a Byzantine collection of rules, regulations, federal, state and local laws, oversight committees, impact reports, review processes, court challenges, suits, counter suits, SLAPP suits, federal, state and local agencies, an alphabet soup's worth of law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, commercial interests, special interests, lobbying groups, a Bestiary worth of politicians, lawyers, lawyers, lawyers and just regular folks looking for work or simply want to enjoy the outdoors.
If, however, the President-elect does assume office we can almost be assured he's going to want to appoint a Secretary of the Interior that shares his antipathy towards man-made global climate change.
While the proposed Secretary of the Interior may ignore the preponderance of the evidence concerning man's role in global climate change petty arguments over bicycle access becomes moot without a viable biosphere.
The selection of a dimwitted Secretary of the Interior will not immediately usher in the Holocene extinction it's not going to slow down atmospheric carbon buildup, ocean acidification, habitat degradation or soil loss either.
I see the movement to woo communities away from extractive industry activities and towards recreational tourism as a good thing but if there isn't any will in Washington to combat global warming we are going to "Drill baby drill" ourselves into oblivion.
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