Climate doubter Pruitt takes EPA reins as Trump targets regulations

[rooster59]

Climate doubter Pruitt takes EPA reins as Trump targets regulations

By Timothy Gardner

 

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifies before a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners.

The installation of Scott Pruitt, who sued the agency he intends to lead more than a dozen times as Oklahoma attorney general, reinforces expectations on both sides of the political divide that America will cede its position as a leader in the global fight on climate change.

Senators voted 52-46 to approve Pruitt, who was to be sworn in later on Friday afternoon at the White House.

Only one Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, voted against him. Two Democrats from energy-producing states, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, voted for his confirmation.

"I have no doubt that Scott will return the EPA to its core objectives,” said Republican Senator James Inhofe, also of Oklahoma, adding the agency had been guilty of “federal overreach, unlawful rule making, and duplicative red tape,” during President Barack Obama's presidency.

The nomination of Pruitt, who sued the EPA more than a dozen times on behalf of his oil-producing state and has doubted the science of climate change, upset many former and current agency employees.

Nearly 800 former EPA staff urged the Senate to reject Pruitt in a letter this week, saying he had "shown no interest in enforcing environmental laws." Earlier this month, about 30 current employees at an EPA regional office in Chicago joined a protest against Pruitt held by green groups.

Trump is likely to issue executive orders as soon as next week to reshape the EPA, sources said.

The Republican president has promised to kill Obama's Clean Power Plan, currently held up in the courts, that aims to slash carbon emissions from coal and natural gas fired power plants.

Trump also wants to give states more authority over environmental issues by striking down federal regulations on drilling technologies and getting rid of an Obama rule that sought to clarify the EPA's jurisdiction over streams and rivers.

'OVERZEALOUS' AGENCY

Conservatives warmly welcomed Pruitt's confirmation.

"For far too long the EPA has acted in an overzealous manner, ignoring the separation of powers, the role of states and the rights of property owners," said Nick Loris, an economist at the Heritage Foundation.

Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, however, said he was concerned that if the administration does not enforce emissions cuts such as outlined in the Clean Power Plan, it would increase U.S. pollution and harm the country's leadership in international efforts to curb climate change.

Opponents of Pruitt also protested his ties to the energy industry. Republicans have the majority in the Senate, but Democrats spoke through Thursday night and Friday morning on the Senate floor, trying to extend debate on Pruitt until later in February when 3,000 emails between him and energy companies will likely be revealed by a judge.

An Oklahoma judge ruled this week that Pruitt will have to turn over the emails between his office and energy companies by Tuesday after a watchdog group, the Center for Media and Democracy, sued for their release. The judge will review and perhaps hold back some of the emails before releasing them, a court clerk said.

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell had moved to "strap blinders" on his fellow Republicans by not waiting for the release of Pruitt's emails.

Environmentalists decried the approval. "If you don’t believe in climate science, you don’t belong at the EPA," said May Boeve, the head of environmentalist group 350.org.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-02-18

[mike324]

let the polluting begin!

[kevkev1888]

Fantastic news. CO2 is not a pollutant. 

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, kevkev1888 said:

Fantastic news. CO2 is not a pollutant. 

And dumping coal mining waste into streams actually purifies the water!

[mtls2005]

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt

 

He's lucky he now gets to live in DC.

 

"We know that Oklahoma experienced 623 magnitude 3+ earthquakes in 2016, 903 in 2015, 579 in 2014 and 109 in 2013. This rise in seismic events has the attention of independent scientists, citizens, policymakers, media and industry. See what information and research state officials and regulators are relying on as the situation progresses."

 

https://earthquakes.ok.gov/

 

https://newsok.com/earthquakes

[The Old Bull]

Can anyone feel sorry for the Yanks when they vote these f*****rs in?

Edited February 18, 2017 by The Old Bull

[ilostmypassword]

26 minutes ago, The Old Bull said:

Can anyone feel sorry for the Yanks when they vote these f*****rs in?

Can anyone feel sorry for Brits after they voted for Brexit?

[Cllingus]

Most people smelled a rat when Australia lost its ozone layer in spite of insane anti emmision regs, while China belched out soot and smoke and yet had a perfectly fine ozone layer. Nice try by the enviro's but no sale.

[ilostmypassword]

3 minutes ago, Cllingus said:

Most people smelled a rat when Australia lost its ozone layer in spite of insane anti emmision regs, while China belched out soot and smoke and yet had a perfectly fine ozone layer. Nice try by the enviro's but no sale.

Except of course, that what you're saying is utterly false.  Ozone loss wasn't about soot and smoke. It was about Chlorofluorocarbons. The chemicals previously used in air conditioners, refrigeration equipment, and aerosol cans. In fact, since CFCs have been banned, the holes in the ozone layer have been pretty much closed. As predicted by scientists.

[NumbNut]

31 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Except of course, that what you're saying is utterly false.  Ozone loss wasn't about soot and smoke. It was about Chlorofluorocarbons. The chemicals previously used in air conditioners, refrigeration equipment, and aerosol cans. In fact, since CFCs have been banned, the holes in the ozone layer have been pretty much closed. As predicted by scientists.

 

And, believe it or not, the CFC ban mentioned above all happened during Reagan's watch. Yep, we can thank the 1987 Montreal Protocol for the continuing recovery of the Ozone Layer. Who would have thunk it eh?

 

Link below regarding the current health of the Ozone Layer:-

 

Ozone Layer on the Mend

(source: www.sciencemag.org)

 

Good to see that conservatives can agree to do something positive for the planet.

 

 

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, NumbNut said:

 

And, believe it or not, the CFC ban mentioned above all happened during Reagan's watch. Yep, we can thank the 1987 Montreal Protocol for the continuing recovery of the Ozone Layer. Who would have thunk it eh?

 

Link below regarding the current health of the Ozone Layer:-

 

Ozone Layer on the Mend

(source: www.sciencemag.org)

 

Good to see that conservatives can agree to do something positive for the planet.

 

 

Those days are long gone.

[mtls2005]

 

[dunroaming]

2 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Can anyone feel sorry for Brits after they voted for Brexit?

Good point!  Horrible to reflect that half of your population are on a totally different page to you! Britain and the UK at the moment, let's see what happens next in Germany and France.  The world is more divided than ever and I cannot see a way to bring them together....... maybe a war?

[Andaman Al]

11 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

Good point!  Horrible to reflect that half of your population are on a totally different page to you! Britain and the UK at the moment, let's see what happens next in Germany and France.  The world is more divided than ever and I cannot see a way to bring them together....... maybe a war?

An alien visitation by an aggressive force of intelligent beings (an oxymoron in itself as intelligent beings would not be aggressive) is the only thing that will create a kum bay ya moment across the world. When everyone realises 1) We are not as clever as we think. 2) We have a long way to go. 3) Religion is a scam.  Once that occurs then we can have peace and development without borders.

[jcsmith]

Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times. Got into deep water because he allowed people from the oil industries to write their own propaganda and then put his name on it as something official. And has for a couple of years fought against releasing what is likely compromising information about his interactions with them. That information has to be released by court order within the next 10 days, but congress decided to vote him in now before they can see that likely damning evidence. The fact that Republicans have voted in every single candidate so far despite many of them being off the rails crazy picks causes them to lose all credibility.

[mike324]

46 minutes ago, jcsmith said:

Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times. Got into deep water because he allowed people from the oil industries to write their own propaganda and then put his name on it as something official. And has for a couple of years fought against releasing what is likely compromising information about his interactions with them. That information has to be released by court order within the next 10 days, but congress decided to vote him in now before they can see that likely damning evidence. The fact that Republicans have voted in every single candidate so far despite many of them being off the rails crazy picks causes them to lose all credibility.

Defense Secretary under Trump seems to be the only legit person. The rest are either crazy, incompetent, working to enrich themselves.

[jcsmith]

7 hours ago, mike324 said:

Defense Secretary under Trump seems to be the only legit person. The rest are either crazy, incompetent, working to enrich themselves.

He's a bright guy, but I'd worry about him environmentally too. Considering he was the CEO of Exxon for years, while they were covering up or engagement in disinformation on climate change, and the potential for conflict of interest there if sanctions get lifted on Russia would be high for those same reasons. But compared to most of his cabinet I agree, Mattis and Tillerson seem to be the most level headed and competent of the bunch.