College Voices
Navigating Scott Pruitt’s EPA
It has been nearly six months since Scott Pruitt became chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and he has already made significant progress in dismantling Obama-era policies and regulations. With most of the focus on the Russia scandal and Congress’s attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare, the news cycle has had little time for covering the notable actions Pruitt has taken to transform the EPA.
Back in February, Pruitt was one of President Trump’s most controversial cabinet picks because of his prior antagonistic relationship with the EPA and his deep ties to fossil fuel companies, like Devon Energy. However, since Pruitt took office, his major actions have gotten little media coverage. Because the primary purpose of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment, it is important to review Pruitt’s actions and his plan for the near future.
During his tenure as Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt maintained close ties with the oil and gas industries and worked with them to challenge environmental regulations levied by the EPA―the agency he now leads. Since 2002, Pruitt has received over $300,000 in contributions from political action committees connected to fossil fuel companies, including Exxon Mobil, Spectra Energy, and Koch Industries.
During his time as Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt brought 13 lawsuits against the EPA for air and water pollution regulations; all of which he viewed as federal overreach.
In particular, he sued over regulations including the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which serves to lower power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, which gave EPA protection to thousands of miles of wetlands and streams.
These are regulations designed to protect the American people, in addition to the environment, from toxic chemicals that can cause serious risks to human health and damage to vital ecosystems.
Pruitt is a staunch climate change denier, writing in May that “the debate is far from settled.” This is a hot take considering 98% of scientists believe that human caused climate change is real and is a serious threat to the United States.
As administrator of the EPA, Pruitt has been taking many actions that run counter to the agency’s mission of protecting the environment and public health. At the beginning of May, Pruitt dismissed several scientists who serve on the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC).
The BOSC plays a crucial role in making EPA regulations and policy because they are responsible for evaluating research conducted by the agency’s scientists. Pruitt has made it clear that he intends to replace scientists on the board with representatives from the oil, gas, and coal industries.
In May Pruitt’s spokesman, J.P. Freire, told the New York Times, “The administrator believes we should have people on this board who understand the impact of regulations on the regulated community.”
Replacing impartial scientists on the BOSC with fossil fuel industry representatives will most certainly make the EPA friendlier to the agenda of those it is supposed to be regulating.
Pruitt has taken many steps to reverse the Obama Administration’s actions regarding climate change. The EPA administrator had spent several months working with President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, to convince the president to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement; a plan that ended up succeeding.
Pruitt has also begun dismantling the Clean Power Plan, which was the Obama Administration’s centerpiece policy for lowering the country’s carbon emissions.
On March 28th, Trump signed the executive order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, which called for a review of the Clean Power Plan. Following the signing of this executive order, Pruitt sent a letter informing governors that their states no longer have to comply with the rules of the Clean Power Plan.
The actions Pruitt has already taken are just the beginning of his plan for reshaping the mission of the EPA over the next three and a half years. On April 13th, Pruitt announced the EPA’s Back-To- Basics Agenda to an audience of coal miners in Sycamore, PA.
“Back-to- Basics means returning EPA to its core mission: protecting the environment by engaging with state, local, and tribal partners to create sensible regulations that enhance economic growth,” said Pruitt.
The Back-to- Basics Agenda outlines several courses of action. A significant item on the agenda is to review the WOTUS rule, with the intention of shifting responsibility for wetlands protected under this rule from the EPA to the states.
Another important item on the agenda is to clear the backlog of new chemicals pending approval by late July. Pruitt has already approved chlorpyrifos, which are dangerous insecticides that EPA scientists recommended banning from farms nationwide because of their potential harm to the health of children and farmers.
The Back-to- Basics Agenda also calls for rescinding the Obama Administration’s evaluation of fuel economy standards, which would have increased the fuel efficiency of U.S. passenger vehicles through the year 2025. Lastly, the agenda states the formation of an “EPA Regulatory Reform Task Force” that will conduct a comprehensive review of EPA regulatory actions.
The actions Scott Pruitt has taken so far and the plans that he has outlined for the future suggest that his interests solely lie with the very industries that the EPA is charged with regulating; big polluters like fossil fuel companies.
Under Pruitt’s watch, Americans won’t be protected from harmful chemicals, and air and water pollution will be loosely regulated. furthermore, climate change (a global threat that must be addressed) will go unchecked.
It is important to keep paying close attention to what Scott Pruitt is doing, because while President Trump distracts us with his latest rant on Twitter, Pruitt is making changes that will have a lasting negative impact both domestically and globally.
By: Ethan Stark-Miller
