The Environmental Protection Agency’s chief of staff pressured the top scientist on the agency’s scientific review board to alter her congressional testimony and play down the dismissal of expert advisers, his emails show.
Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt came to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promising to eliminate the Clean Power Plan, a priority for the coal industry and utilities, and to get rid of methane standards, a priority for the oil and gas industries.
Just ahead of a confirmation vote in the Senate, an Oklahoma County judge ordered state Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Thursday to turn over thousands of documents sought for more than two years by a Wisconsin-based media watchdog group.
The Oklahoma County lawsuit by the Wisconsin-based Center for Media and Democracy alleges that Pruitt and his office have not responded to open records requests that are as much as two years old.
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.
