In December 2020, President Joe Biden historically nominated Debra Haaland as the Secretary of the Interior, responsible for overseeing a myriad of federal agencies dealing with conservation and, crucially, Native American affairs. As a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, the New Mexico congresswoman will be the first ever Native American to hold a cabinet position.
Haaland worked her way through college, giving birth to her daughter four days after graduating. She was then unable to afford housing, and relied on food stamps and the generosity of friends to survive. In an interview with UPolitics, Haaland emphasized, “I got into politics because I really wanted more Native Americans to get out and vote.” As a volunteer for Obama’s campaign in 2012, she specifically worked to end the underrepresentation of Native Americans in the electorate. She also served in state-wide positions, running as a lieutenant governor candidate in 2014. Despite her failure in that election, she eventually rose to the chair of the state Democratic party. Under her leadership, the party raised large sums, and within two years, amassed enough to pay off the debt left by the previous seven years of leadership.
In 2018, Haaland announced her intention to run for the House of Representatives in New Mexico’s first congressional district. She won 40 percent of the vote in the primary, a large enough margin to gain the nomination. She then won 60 percent of the vote in the general election, becoming one of the first two Native American women to ever serve in the House, along with Sharice Davids of Kansas. As described by the Guardian, in her acceptance speech, Haaland referenced the actions of the previous office and her goal to create change: “This moment is profound when we consider the fact that a former Secretary of the Interior once proclaimed it as his goal to, quote, ‘civilize or exterminate’ us. I’m a living testament to the failure of that horrific ideology.” Haaland also possesses a record of progressive policy on fracking and other issues that may fall under her purview as the warden of federal lands.
Many view her appointment to the position as a confirmation of Biden’s commitment to pursue environmental justice. The president has pledged to set the US on track to net zero emissions by at least 2050, and to work to stop polluters and fossil fuel companies from contaminating vulnerable communities. This commitment was also signaled by his recent moratorium on new drilling permits. Beyond appointing Haaland, the Department of the Interior has said Biden also signed an executive order directing the department to reexamine sacred monuments, and collaborate with tribes to restore them if necessary. Previously, the Trump administration had taken a different approach to the duties of the Interior, with federal lands being opened to drilling and over 100 environmental regulations being rolled back. Between the appointment of Haaland and the other promises made by Biden, it seems as though that trend will soon change. How far back to the side of stringent environmental regulations the government will go remains to be seen. However, it is clear that the Biden administration will not be a return to the days of minimal climate efforts.