EPA of Trump Administration: New Head is Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt

[CraigsIsland]

Article says a lot about the pick



Ars Technicahttp://arstechnica.com/science/2016/12/trump-tabs-oklahoma-attorney-general-friend-to-fossil-fuels-to-run-epa/

This got me:

" 2014, The New York Times found that a letter Pruitt sent to the EPA challenging estimates of emissions from natural gas wells in Oklahoma was actually written by Devon Energy, one of the oil and gas companies working in the state. The attorney general simply added his letterhead and signature. The report identified several other letters to federal agencies that had also been written by Devon Energy.
"

How is this guy not influence by a pro-fossil fuel energy market? Horrific.

[Buddy]

How is this guy not influence by a pro-fossil fuel energy market? Horrific.

Yes....but since climate change is such a passionate issue for Ivanka....I'm sure everything will be OK

Ivanka likes to lie almost as much as her daddy.  How many fossil fuel folks does this make in his administration so far?

I think it will come back to haunt him....and I don't think it will take long....

[meljay14]

I hope with all my heart that you are right Buddy.

[logicmanPatrick]

Recidivist arsonist to be new Fire Chief.

[Sigmetnow]

U.S.:  Examining the "job killing" effect of EPA regulations claimed by the oil companies, versus the growing number of green jobs in all states.

Trump war on 'job-destroying' regulations could kill a lot of high-paying jobs

Trump's pick has environmentalists, Democrats and others worried the Trump Administration is putting in place a team prepared to erase EPA regulations for the benefit of fossil fuels industries.

But jobs involved in generating renewable power, boosting energy efficiency, or otherwise improving the environment are numerous in the United States, and they often pay relatively well.
...
Regulations themselves create very few layoffs, despite the political rhetoric to the contrary.

Across all industries, government regulations and intervention accounted for 1,686 layoffs out of 154,374 — or just 0.1 percent — in the first quarter of 2013, the last time the Bureau of Labor Statistics published data.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/08/pruitt-epa-trump-may-kill-jobs-fighting-job-destroying-regulations.html


Trump is picking so many of his appointees from a failing oil industry -- but even a sympathetic government won't be able to save Big Oil.  Tesla, the electric car (and sustainable energy) company, made more money in the third quarter of 2016 than the U.S. oil industry as a whole made in all of 2015.
https://electrek.co/2016/11/10/tesla-made-more-money-last-quarter-than-the-entire-us-oil-industry-made-last-year/

[Buddy]

but even a sympathetic government won't be able to save Big Oil.

Electric cars are possibly one good improvement away from "sticking the knife in."  There are MANY things cooking on R&D on the "battery front."  Lithium ion continues to drop in price...and once full production starts....that price will drop.

In addition....there are already some things like lithium sulfur on the battery side that will drop the price further and increase efficiency further.

Oil used in driving cars does not have a long life ahead of it...

[CraigsIsland]

1. any "subsidies" supporting the oil industry should be rescinded.
2. need more grassroot support for divesting from oil companies/funds.
3. more grassroot organizing for lowering AGW impacts


some of these things are happening - but of course - not quick enough. get involved. take action.

my personal goal is to go work for a non-profit dedicated to lowering CO2.

[logicmanPatrick]

Trump transition team for Energy Department seeks names of employees involved in climate meetings
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/12/09/trump-transition-team-for-energy-department-seeks-names-of-employees-involved-in-climate-meetings/?utm_term=.8dc911b0e7c6#comments

Do you now - commie scum - or did you ever - filthy vermin - believe that humans could possibly affect the climate?
http://spartacus-educational.com/USAhuac.htm

"He (the witness) knows that the Committee demands his physical presence in the hearing room for no reason other than to make him a target of its hostility, to have him photographed, exhibited and branded... He knows that the vandalism, ostracism, insults, crank calls and hate letters that he and his family have already suffered are but the opening stages of a continuing ordeal... he is tormented by the awareness that he is being punished without valid cause, and deprived, by manipulated prejudice, of his fundamental rights as an American."

Frank Donner, The Un-Americans, 1961

[6roucho]

I hope with all my heart that you are right Buddy.

I hope he's wrong. But I doubt it. :-(

[Sigmetnow]

Seriously, could it be any worse?   

Trump's transition: sceptics guide every agency dealing with climate change
With at least nine senior members of transition team denying basic scientific understanding, president-elect’s choices demonstrate pro-fossil fuels agenda
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/12/donald-trump-environment-climate-change-skeptics

[ritter]

Seriously, could it be any worse?   

Trump's transition: sceptics guide every agency dealing with climate change
With at least nine senior members of transition team denying basic scientific understanding, president-elect’s choices demonstrate pro-fossil fuels agenda
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/12/donald-trump-environment-climate-change-skeptics

It's kind of like putting the Marlboro Man in charge of national health. What could possibly go wrong? 

[Sigmetnow]

Scott Pruitt at work.

Trump's top environmental official spends most of his time hanging out with the industries he regulates

There is nothing typical about the ways in which  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt is approaching his job. For one thing, he's reportedly built up a protective detail of 18 bodyguards who take shifts to ensure he receives protection 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No other EPA administrator since the agency's creation in 1970 has insisted on such a costly entourage.

Gina McCarthy, Pruitt's predecessor in the position, had a small security detail with her during the day, but not posted 24/7. According to reporting from The Washington Post, agents have had to be pulled off of investigations into environmental crimes in order to protect Pruitt instead.

Then there's the $25,000 soundproof phone booth that is being installed in his office, the operational need for which is unclear even to the contractor that's designing it.

Pruitt has operated with extraordinary secrecy, having refused to publish a daily schedule, in contrast to historical precedent. He also rarely meets with agency staff, instead going through a small coterie of political aides, and often operating without a paper trail.

But through Freedom of Information Act requests, journalists and advocacy groups have shed some light on this information, revealing just how cozy Pruitt is with industry leaders.

Based on calendar information from February through May, obtained by the advocacy group American Oversight and published in The New York Times on Tuesday, Pruitt has used much of his time in office to meet with representatives of the industries that his agency regulates, often to discuss their wish lists for actions he can take as administrator, or to thank him for steps he has already taken. 

The records are remarkable because they present clear evidence of a link between his meetings with industry representatives and actions he has taken as the head of the EPA. ...

http://mashable.com/2017/10/03/scott-pruitt-epa-calendar-reveals-industry-influence.amp