Scott Pruitt never was qualified to protect the enviornment
Echo editorial from The Virginia Pilot
EPA's Pruitt a terrible choice ~ He must be fired:
EPA's Pruitt a terrible choice ~ He must be fired:
"..made a career out of genuflecting at the altar of oil and gas, industries..."
By The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board
Scratch that: Neither an oil derrick nor a landfill possesses the administrative skills needed to undermine those federal laws and programs established to protect Americans’ soil, air and water, all of which Pruitt has done.
Here’s someone who made a career out of genuflecting at the altar of oil and gas, industries for whom he eagerly carried water while serving as attorney general of Oklahoma.
He once received a letter from Devon Energy, one of the state’s largest energy companies, in opposition to federal limits on methane leaks, and forwarded it to the EPA — replacing little more than the company’s letterhead with that of his office.
It was also in that office that he demonstrated his contempt for carbon emissions limits, among the many other environmental laws he considered an unlawful imposition on the states such as his.
And it was in that office that he made it his mission to dismantle the Clean Power Plan advanced under President Barack Obama, believing it harmful to the economic aspirations of energy companies … er, American workers.
It was therefore an unwelcome, and wholly distressing, development when Trump tapped Pruitt, not simply for a job in Washington, but to lead the nation’s most important environmental watchdog agency.
The president has made a habit of picking as department heads those individuals most committed to sabotaging the very agencies they’ve been asked to lead. Pruitt is arguably the most egregious — the highest-profile rogue in a gallery of them.
Closer to home, his elevation to that influential role posed a particularly ominous menace to this region, home to the second-largest population in the United States facing the threat posed by rising sea levels.
Though land subsidence contributes to that problem, the climate is changing for the worse as a result of human activity — a position that is indisputable by anyone other than the willfully ignorant. Loosening laws meant to curb emissions and lessen climate change is akin to pouring salt in a self-inflicted wound, and Pruitt was all too eager to do so.
And yet, it’s unlikely that his sinister approach to managing the EPA will be Pruitt’s undoing. Rather, it’s almost certain to be a comparatively banal brand of corruption that is infuriatingly commonplace in the highest echelons of the Trump administration.
Since taking the EPA helm, Pruitt has compiled a rather impressive roster of misdeeds.
He ordered construction of a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office for no discernible reason. He has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for his personal security detail and air travel, which he demands be exclusively first class.
He took a trip to Morocco on the taxpayers’ dime, using it to pitch that country’s government on the benefits of natural gas.
By The Virginian-Pilot Editorial Board
 |
| NOT ~ Scott Pruitt |
SHORT OF nominating an actual oil derrick or a landfill to the post, Donald Trump couldn’t have done worse than tapping Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Scratch that: Neither an oil derrick nor a landfill possesses the administrative skills needed to undermine those federal laws and programs established to protect Americans’ soil, air and water, all of which Pruitt has done.
Here’s someone who made a career out of genuflecting at the altar of oil and gas, industries for whom he eagerly carried water while serving as attorney general of Oklahoma.
He once received a letter from Devon Energy, one of the state’s largest energy companies, in opposition to federal limits on methane leaks, and forwarded it to the EPA — replacing little more than the company’s letterhead with that of his office.
It was also in that office that he demonstrated his contempt for carbon emissions limits, among the many other environmental laws he considered an unlawful imposition on the states such as his.
And it was in that office that he made it his mission to dismantle the Clean Power Plan advanced under President Barack Obama, believing it harmful to the economic aspirations of energy companies … er, American workers.
It was therefore an unwelcome, and wholly distressing, development when Trump tapped Pruitt, not simply for a job in Washington, but to lead the nation’s most important environmental watchdog agency.
The president has made a habit of picking as department heads those individuals most committed to sabotaging the very agencies they’ve been asked to lead. Pruitt is arguably the most egregious — the highest-profile rogue in a gallery of them.
Closer to home, his elevation to that influential role posed a particularly ominous menace to this region, home to the second-largest population in the United States facing the threat posed by rising sea levels.
Though land subsidence contributes to that problem, the climate is changing for the worse as a result of human activity — a position that is indisputable by anyone other than the willfully ignorant. Loosening laws meant to curb emissions and lessen climate change is akin to pouring salt in a self-inflicted wound, and Pruitt was all too eager to do so.
And yet, it’s unlikely that his sinister approach to managing the EPA will be Pruitt’s undoing. Rather, it’s almost certain to be a comparatively banal brand of corruption that is infuriatingly commonplace in the highest echelons of the Trump administration.
Since taking the EPA helm, Pruitt has compiled a rather impressive roster of misdeeds.
He ordered construction of a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office for no discernible reason. He has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs for his personal security detail and air travel, which he demands be exclusively first class.
He took a trip to Morocco on the taxpayers’ dime, using it to pitch that country’s government on the benefits of natural gas.
Pruitt used a little-known provision in the Safe Water Drinking Act to increase the salaries of two political aides by more than $80,000 combined.
And then there’s his housing situation. Pruitt has been renting a room in a townhome for $50 a day, which anyone familiar with District rental prices would identify as a sweetheart deal. The co-owner of said townhome? The wife of an energy lobbyist.
Now, citizens shouldn’t expect Pruitt to really have to account for these actions.
A Congress led by Republicans has shown little interest in looking into the rampant corruption by members of the Trump administration. And when he’s relieved of his duties — a time that is almost inevitable given the proclivities of this president — he’ll probably land quite comfortably in the corner office of some energy lobbying firm.
But that moment really cannot come soon enough. Having a director of the Environmental Protection Agency wholly uninterested in protecting the environment is a national embarrassment, and Americans deserve much better than the worst option available.
And then there’s his housing situation. Pruitt has been renting a room in a townhome for $50 a day, which anyone familiar with District rental prices would identify as a sweetheart deal. The co-owner of said townhome? The wife of an energy lobbyist.
Now, citizens shouldn’t expect Pruitt to really have to account for these actions.
A Congress led by Republicans has shown little interest in looking into the rampant corruption by members of the Trump administration. And when he’s relieved of his duties — a time that is almost inevitable given the proclivities of this president — he’ll probably land quite comfortably in the corner office of some energy lobbying firm.
But that moment really cannot come soon enough. Having a director of the Environmental Protection Agency wholly uninterested in protecting the environment is a national embarrassment, and Americans deserve much better than the worst option available.
Scott Pruitt has never been qualified to protect the environment. His goal is to create profit margins for rich industrial polluters.
Labels: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, The Virginian Pilot
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 8:11 PM
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