May 17, 2018
By William Cummings –
Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s beleaguered Environmental Protection Agency administrator, faced tough questioning at a Senate hearing Wednesday that included one Democrat calling Pruitt’s entire tenure a “betrayal of the American people.”
Pruitt’s EPA is the subject of about a dozen ethics probes by Congress, the EPA’s inspector general, the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Management of Budget. Among the issues being investigated is Pruitt’s $50-a-night Capitol Hill apartment that he rents from an energy lobbyist’s wife, Pruitt’s first-class travel and his 24-hour security detail.
Pruitt denied direct responsibility for the problems plaguing the agency and deflected blame onto his subordinates.
During his appearance before the Senate appropriations subcommittee, Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told Pruitt, “I’m being asked, really constantly asked, to comment on security and on housing and on travel. I’m reading about your interactions with representatives of the industries that you regulate.”
Some of the toughest questioning came from New Mexico Democrat Tom Udall, a former state attorney general like Pruitt.
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is “to protect human health and the environment.” Disgraced EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt tried his best to undermine this vital mission by choosing to slash critical health protections and let corporate polluters off the hook. Now that Pruitt’s been booted, we need an EPA administrator dedicated to undoing his toxic agenda and restoring the agency to its core mission. Progress is possible and necessary – but another corporate crony or climate skeptic will not get us there.
Scott Pruitt is gone, but the fight is just beginning. We need an EPA administrator who puts our health and environment first, period. Any alternative is unacceptable.
