Trump's Fish and Wildlife pick Aurelia Skipwith under scrutiny for previous work for Monsanto
Source: The Guardian
Trump’s Fish and Wildlife pick under scrutiny for previous work for Monsanto
Senate Democrats questioned Aurelia Skipwith’s experience and political ties as potential conflicts of interest
Emily Holden in Washington
Wed 11 Sep 2019 19.49 BST
Last modified on Wed 11 Sep 2019 20.02 BST
Donald Trump’s nominee to handle endangered species, whose experience and political ties have been questioned by environment experts, came under scrutiny from Senate Democrats on Wednesday for potential conflicts of interest.
Aurelia Skipwith, the interior department’s deputy assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks, previously worked for the agrochemical giant Monsanto, as well as another agriculture business and her fiance’s consulting firm, Gage International.
Skipwith’s nomination to run the US Fish and Wildlife Service follows a trend of former industry advocates selected to run the government. The interior department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are both run by former lobbyists.
Tom Carper, the Senate environment committee’s ranking Democrat, said Skipwith had not responded to a letter with questions about how she would avoid being involved in decisions that would benefit her past employers until the night before the hearing, and even then her answers were incomplete.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has already made one decision in favor of Monsanto, rescinding a ban on farms within national wildlife refuges using bee-killing pesticides and the genetically modified crops that can withstand them. Skipwith told lawmakers she had no part in that decision.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/11/auriela-skipwith-fish-and-wildlife-monsanto
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