This week, we have even more reasons to fire Scott Pruitt. Plus, new reports add to our understanding of the dangers of offshore drilling.
Scott Pruitt’s Dirty Politics. “How the Environmental Protection Agency became the fossil-fuel industry’s best friend.” The New Yorker
- Our take: This must-read account of the EPA under Scott Pruitt uncovers his efforts to dismantle the agency, demoralize its staff, and help the fossil fuel industry throughout his tenure as EPA Administrator. Having him in charge of the government agency responsible for protecting human health and the environment puts all Americans in danger.
- Take action: Tell Congress to fire Scott Pruitt
Trump Rollbacks Target Offshore Rules ‘Written With Human Blood. “Drillers seek to gain from an easing of Obama-era safety and environmental regulations that were adopted after the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people.” New York Times
- Our take: Not only does Trump want to expand offshore drilling, but he plans to make it even more dangerous. This administration is bending over backwards to please the oil and gas industry, putting American workers, the environment, and coastal communities at risk.
- Take action: Tell Congress to stop Trump’s dangerous offshore drilling plan
- Read more:
- Watch this video on Trump’s decision to open nearly all the US outer continental shelf to offshore drilling.
- Learn why taxpayers are losing out in the government’s latest offshore oil and gas lease sale, which has been deemed an “embarrassing flop.”
- A bipartisan bill to ban offshore drilling in New Jersey’s waters passed unanimously in the state’s senate.
The E.P.A. Says It Wants Research Transparency. Scientists See an Attack on Science. “The Environmental Protection Agency is considering a major change to the way it assesses scientific work, a move that would severely restrict the research available to it when writing environmental regulations.” New York Times
- Our take: We should be outraged, but not surprised. This plot to erase the existing scientific record and undermine the EPA’s regulating responsibilities is par for the course for Scott Pruitt (see the above New Yorker piece).
- Take action: Tell Congress to fire Scott Pruitt…again.
- Read more:
- Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Janet McCabe’s op-ed in the New York Times: Scott Pruitt’s Attack on Science Would Paralyze the E.P.A.
- NRDC’s own Ana Unruh Cohen looks at the history of climate science in her op-ed in Real Clear Politics: History Doesn’t Lie: Climate Science Is Sound
In other environmental news,
- Most anti-environment budget cuts and proposed policy riders were left out of the much-anticipated omnibus FY18 appropriations bill passed in Congress last Thursday. For an analysis of the wins and losses for the environment in the spending bill, read this blog by NRDC’s Scott Slesinger.
- A federal court ordered the EPA to enforce the implementation of anti-smog rules that the agency had delayed for months. The EPA was sued by 16 state attorneys general and several environmental groups, including NRDC, for its failure to carry out the 2015 Ozone Standards. This is the latest in a series of court rulings that blocked the EPA’s attempts to roll back environmental and safety regulations.
- A win for the environment in Montana and Wyoming as a federal court rejects BLM plan to allow coal mining and oil and gas drilling on public lands.
- FEMA’s strategic plan for the next four years does not mention climate change once. It is troubling that the agency whose mission is to “prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters” would ignore the serious risks posed by changing temperatures, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather events.