He joked about killing endangered species. Trump gave him a top environment job

In July 2017, William Perry Pendley, a crusading conservative attorney, delivered a speech to a group of rightwing activists in North Carolina in which he was completely candid about his ideological commitments. He accused “the media” of selling “their soul to the greens”. And after criticizing the Endangered Species Act, he made light of killing endangered species. “This is why out west we say ‘shoot, shovel and shut up’ when it comes to the…