April 05, 2018
By Aaron Blake –
The two main defenses of Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt’s questionable condo lease both suffered significant blows late Wednesday. And, making matters worse, President Trump doesn’t sound particularly committed to Pruitt.
Since his $50-per-night, vacation-style rental agreement with the wife of an energy lobbyist was publicized, Pruitt’s defenders have focused on two things:
Both of those have now been undermined.
That same ethics official has now issued a new memo making clear that his previous evaluation of Pruitt’s lease did not include all relevant information and wasn’t a complete approval. The new memo from Kevin Minoli notes that reports indicate Pruitt apparently had access to other parts of the house, rather than just the room he was renting. Pruitt reportedly had his daughter stay at the condo.
“Some have raised questions whether the actual use of the space was consistent with the terms of the lease,” Minoli wrote. “Evaluating those questions would have required factual information that was not before us and the Review does not address those questions.”
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.
