June 11, 2018
By
For having only been in office a little over a year, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, has certainly had an eventful tenure. Hardly one day goes by that the news isn’t awash with some new scandal he’s gotten himself into.
First, it was the unnecessary $43,000 soundproof phone booth he got installed at his office. Then, it was the $50 a night condo deal tied to an energy lobbyist. Lately, however, the scandals have gotten more and more ridiculous — there are reports of Pruitt asking his staffers to scout for a Trump hotel mattress and Ritz-Carlton hotel moisturizing cream. What’s up with this man and his obsession with hotel stuff? It’s all very funny, until you realize your taxes are funding all these laughable extravaganzas — and these extravaganzas might function as a smoke screen for Pruitt’s threats to the environment.
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.
