March 30, 2018
By the Editorial Board –
As long as President Trump is firing Cabinet members, may we make a nomination? Scott Pruitt, and not just because of the allegations by Bloomberg and ABC News that he took a sweetheart deal for himself and a daughter for living space in a Washington townhouse co-owned by the wife of an oil lobbyist. The deeper problem is that he is a danger to the planet.
Pruitt, of course, is the director of the Environment Protection Agency, whose mission is supposed to be enforcing environmental laws. But lately he’s been accused of a variety of seamy acts of self-dealing. Not only did he allegedly accept the cheap rent deal from the lobbyist’s family, but he has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on travel, flying first class apparently because he doesn’t like getting yelled at by passengers in coach who recognize him. He spent $120,000 of government money on one trip to Italy that included using a military jet and a $7,000 premium commercial ticket for a transatlantic flight, according to the Washington Post and Bloomberg.
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.
