This story was originally published by The Huffington Post and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. In late June, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke met in Nevada with billionaire friend and political benefactor William Foley. As the owner of Las Vegas’s new National Hockey League team, the Golden Knights, Foley was looking for someone to give his squad a “motivational speech.” Zinke kindly obliged. After the speech, Zinke hopped on a charter plane belonging to oil-and-gas exploration company executive Jay Nielson, flying to Kalispell, Montana, to attend a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association in his hometown of Whitefish.