January 19, 2018
Among Trump and Pruitt’s most egregious attacks on environmental protection has been their aggressive effort to undermine science, scientists, the scientific process, and scientific consensus. The attack on science is rooted in the same noxious soil as this administration’s attack on journalists: In a world of no fixed facts and no recognized, impartial arbiters of reality, there is no basis for disputing the Administration’s claims.
Without the revelations of science, we wouldn’t even know about the impacts of DDT. . . the hole in the ozone layer . . . chemical carcinogens . . . and the human-activity–driven climate crisis. Scientific information is necessary for the public to understand our impacts on the environment and demand action, and for federal agencies to design and defend policies to address environmental problems.
The Trump administration is waging an all-out war on science precisely because doing so is key to shutting down environmental regulation. It starts at the top, with Donald Trump’s absurd claim that the climate crisis is a Chinese hoax.
In that vein, Trump has nominated and appointed climate science deniers –- such as Scott Pruitt, Sam Clovis, and Kathleen Hartnett-White –- to lead his environmental and science policy, and Trump’s agency heads have hired additional countless paid hacks and deniers to take over positions throughout the federal government.
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.
