U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said Thursday he opposes the nomination of Colorado native David Bernhardt as Interior secretary.

“During his tenure as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Bernhardt has worked to revoke national methane standards, drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and limit input from state and local officials with respect to the oil and gas leasing process in Colorado,” Bennet, D-Colorado, said in a statement.

“Although I respect David Bernhardt as a Coloradan, I cannot support his nomination to serve as Secretary of the Interior,” the senator added.

Bennet voted with U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, to confirm Bernhardt as deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior. Most Democrats opposed the choice.

Gardner has signaled his support of Bernhardt, whom President Trump nominated Feb. 4.

“This is fantastic news for Colorado,” Gardner  said in a statement after news of Trump’s choice broke. Gardner is a member of the Senate’s Energy & Natural Resources Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings on Bernhardt’s nomination.

Bernhardt, currently Interior’s acting head, would succeed Ryan Zinke if the Senate approves his nomination. Zinke left the department Jan. 2 amid ethics investigations.

Bernhardt — formerly with Denver-based law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he co-chaired the firm’s natural resources practice — worked as a lobbyist and lawyer on behalf of several oil and gas companies and other interests that sometimes have regulatory matters before the department.

As acting secretary, Bernhardt drew criticism in recent weeks from environmental groups, tribes and others for continuing to process paperwork for oil and gas projects while other agencies were closed for routine work during this winter’s partial government shutdown.

The Interior Department called its effort important to bolstering U.S. energy independence.

Bernhardt first served in the department under President George W. Bush, working for another Coloradan, Interior Secretary Gale Norton. He had been deputy secretary under Zinke.

The Interior Department oversees millions of acres across Colorado, including the national parks and wildlife refuges, as well as public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. It also oversees energy development on federal lands in the state.

Republicans say Bernhardt’s revolving-door experience makes him an informed regulator in matters before the agency. Democrats and environmental groups say he’s vulnerable to conflicts of interest.

Bernhardt grew up in Rifle on Colorado’s Western Slope. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and a law degree from George Washington University in Washington.

Mark Harden of Colorado Politics and The Associated Press contributed.