Interior official involved in shrinking national monuments quits to join oil giant BP

[ashling]

https://thinkprogress.org/interior-official-shrinking-national-monuments-joins-bp-909d24e9ef28/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5b85fe2a9ac56400011bc9a1&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

A top Interior Department official involved in the rollback of two Utah national monuments has quit to start a new job with BP’s government affairs team.

Downey Magallanes, former deputy chief of staff and a top adviser to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, resigned on August 24 as first reported by E&E News. On Monday, BP confirmed to the Washington Post that Magallanes would be joining the oil giant — she starts the new job just after Labor day weekend.

During her time at the Department for the Interior (DOI), Magallanes worked on policy and operations, including a push to open up public lands and federal waters to more fossil fuel extraction. Specifically, she led the review which resulted in Zinke’s plan to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah last December.

As documents released in March and July confirm, accessing oil, gas, and coal reserves were key factors in the decisions made by DOI to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 85 and 46 percent, respectively. Allowing mining companies greater access has also been a factor.

[dchill]

1. They are all Hutts.