The U.S. Senate voted 68-31 March 1 to confirm Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., to head the U.S. Department of the Interior, setting up possible changes to policies affecting energy production on federal land.

Zinke faced little resistance from Congress during his confirmation hearing, where he stressed local input into Interior policies and the need to address maintenance and repair of national parks.

"The view from the Potomac is very different than the view from the Missouri," Zinke said during the Jan. 17 hearing, repeating his dedication to getting local input on issues such as sage grouse protection, energy development and the dedication of federal monuments.

Zinke diverged from many Republican colleagues by stating that he is "absolutely" against any transfer of federal land. He also split from President Donald Trump by stating that climate change is "not a hoax," does exist and is at least partially man-made.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, supported the confirmation.

"I am hopeful that Rep. Zinke's confirmation will mark the start of a new era for the Department of the Interior that is defined by greater cooperation with Congress, the states, and the local residents affected by its decisions," Murkowski said in a statement, noting the impact the department has on federal land issues in Alaska.

While Zinke emerged largely unscathed from his confirmation hearing, he faced challenges on issues from energy development to sexual assault in the parks service.

One of Zinke's most vocal critics during his hearing, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., repeated her opposition to the congressman's new role in comments made before the March 1 vote, focusing specifically on the issue of energy development on federal land.

"Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that Congressman Zinke will be able to moderate the Trump administration's extreme views on exploiting our public land," Cantwell said. "I'm not sure he will be able to stand up to the president and protect the public interest … required to manage our public lands for the benefit of all Americans — not just the oil, gas and mining companies and their commercial interests."

Over the past year, Cantwell has been a vocal critic of the federal coal lease program, which falls under the authority of Interior. The program is under a moratorium introduced by the Obama administration to allow for a comprehensive review. Coal advocates have appealed to the Trump administration to cancel the moratorium.

During his confirmation hearing, Zinke would not guarantee that he would reverse the current pause on federal coal leasing introduced under the previous administration, but he said he believes the administration's "war on coal" is real and has to be addressed through stressing an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, including support for increased domestic coal, oil and natural gas production.

Zinke also said he would work toward easing current Interior limits on hydraulic fracking on federal land.