Trumps most destructive hire. By far.
Anyone still surprised? The public is CLAMORING for dirty water, fouled air…
Of course, Pruitt only sued the EPA to stop doing its job. What a damned hypocrite.
Pruitt is clearly doing what Trump wants—and what Pruitt has wanted for a decade.
Their ultimate goal is the elimination of the EPA.
In order to allow for the increased time that staffers will now spend litigating the cases brought by environmental groups, enforcement actions against businesses will be terminated and all requests of the fossil fuel industry will be fast-tracked. Further, the name of the agency has been changed to the PPPA - Pruitt’s Polluters’ Protection Agency (and Charter Flight Sharing Service).
Pruitt sees the environment as a toilet that his favored corporations can crap in. Clean air and water and uncontaminated ground are secondary to allowing unlimited filth to be spewed into the environment. For Pruitt eating, drinking and breathing in a toilet is your god given American right.
It is solely up to the courts to determine if “sue and settle” will continue. Pruitt does not seem to understand the concept of checks and balances between the Judicial and Executive branches.
[quote=“tomtolson, post:7, topic:63789”]
For Pruitt eating, drinking and breathing in a toilet is your god given American right.
[/quote]And patriotic duty … depending on income bracket and net worth.
What he’s saying is that the EPA will be bitter-ending every lawsuit alleging a failure to enforce existing laws and regulations. Which is, of course, what you do when you’re planning on ceasing enforcement of existing laws and regulations.
Using deep pockets and an army of lawyers to bully the little guys. I wonder where Pruitt could have learned such a strategy?
Most excellent reply!
The guy is obviously full of spite. You tree-huggers have been abusing the oil companies for too long!
This is a regulation, right? If so, it has to go though the NEPA process – full public review and comment, with an opportunity to seed legal challenges.
Asking because the TPM article is completely lacking in specifics.
Do you honestly believe that Pruitt will follow the rules?
If he doesn’t then he will go to court. This isn’t just a set of house rules. NEPA is the law.
Well, it is confusing as written. Attorney fees for taking an unjustified position are statutory, so he must be referring to a policy of settling attorney fee petitions.
But these would be policy decisions, not rules. Litigation decisions are always subject to change with a change in leadership.
But it’s all good. I’m sure Hillary’s EPA head would have been as bad or worse.
If it’s a policy change, that’s a much smaller deal. I’m pretty sure every environmental group out there expected zero co-operation and a fair bit of animosity. And the NRDC (to which everyone should donate) is pretty much powered by pro bono work.
Maybe Pruitt will figure out to import Puerto Rico’s diesel fumed air and super site well water to the US.