SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Like An Arsonist Fighting Fires': Outrage Grows Over Trump's EPA Pick
Rep. Raúl Grijalva introduces earthquake prevention bill to call attention to fracking crisis in Pruitt's home state of Oklahoma
Dec 08, 2016
Outrage continues to grow over Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President-elect Donald Trump, particularly over his climate change denial and ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Pruitt has drawn criticism for his belief that human-caused climate change is unproven, among other critical environmental issues.
"If a person jumped off a building because he said gravitation is only a theory, one would say he is delusional," Rush Holt, the executive director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said Wednesday. "So too, any policy maker who would base national policy on denial of climate science because there is 'debate' would be called dangerously irresponsible."
Or as Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, phrased it: "Having Scott Pruitt in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires."
As Common Dreams previously reported, Pruitt used his position as Oklahoma Attorney General to sue the EPA in an attempt to block measures to reduce pollution and protect waterways.
In response to Pruitt's appointment, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, on Thursday introduced the Preventing Preventable Earthquakes Act, referencing two major environmental issues associated with the EPA nominee--hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and Oklahoma's fracking-related earthquake crisis.
The bill would require states and the EPA to enforce earthquake-prevention provisions and work toward "zero induced seismicity."
Oklahoma is the de facto earthquake capital of the country, having recently experienced an uptick in seismic activity which scientists have linked to fracking and wastewater disposal. The latest big tremor, a magnitude-5.0 event in November, was the 19th earthquake in the state that week.
"The first step to cleaning up Pruitt's earthquake disaster is to stop it from getting worse," said Benjamin Schreiber, climate and energy director at Friends of the Earth, in response to Grijalva's bill. "It is clear that Donald Trump is willing to put Americans at risk in order to pump industry profits out of our natural resources."
Schreiber described the effect of fracking as "destructive and short-sighted."
Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said Wednesday, "Pruitt's statements and actions are in direct conflict with the job to which he has been nominated. [The EPA] defends environmental justice and fights the risk of catastrophic climate change. Under Pruitt's leadership, all of these policies will suffer and so will the Americans who rely on them."
Meanwhile, Democrats and greens on Capitol Hill are gearing up to fight Pruitt's nomination, which Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, told The Hill was a "worst-case scenario when it comes to clean air and clean water."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another EPW member, also vowed to "vigorously" oppose Pruitt.
"At a time when climate change is the great environmental threat to the entire planet, it is sad and dangerous that Mr. Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA," he said.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Outrage continues to grow over Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President-elect Donald Trump, particularly over his climate change denial and ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Pruitt has drawn criticism for his belief that human-caused climate change is unproven, among other critical environmental issues.
"If a person jumped off a building because he said gravitation is only a theory, one would say he is delusional," Rush Holt, the executive director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said Wednesday. "So too, any policy maker who would base national policy on denial of climate science because there is 'debate' would be called dangerously irresponsible."
Or as Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, phrased it: "Having Scott Pruitt in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires."
As Common Dreams previously reported, Pruitt used his position as Oklahoma Attorney General to sue the EPA in an attempt to block measures to reduce pollution and protect waterways.
In response to Pruitt's appointment, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, on Thursday introduced the Preventing Preventable Earthquakes Act, referencing two major environmental issues associated with the EPA nominee--hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and Oklahoma's fracking-related earthquake crisis.
The bill would require states and the EPA to enforce earthquake-prevention provisions and work toward "zero induced seismicity."
Oklahoma is the de facto earthquake capital of the country, having recently experienced an uptick in seismic activity which scientists have linked to fracking and wastewater disposal. The latest big tremor, a magnitude-5.0 event in November, was the 19th earthquake in the state that week.
"The first step to cleaning up Pruitt's earthquake disaster is to stop it from getting worse," said Benjamin Schreiber, climate and energy director at Friends of the Earth, in response to Grijalva's bill. "It is clear that Donald Trump is willing to put Americans at risk in order to pump industry profits out of our natural resources."
Schreiber described the effect of fracking as "destructive and short-sighted."
Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said Wednesday, "Pruitt's statements and actions are in direct conflict with the job to which he has been nominated. [The EPA] defends environmental justice and fights the risk of catastrophic climate change. Under Pruitt's leadership, all of these policies will suffer and so will the Americans who rely on them."
Meanwhile, Democrats and greens on Capitol Hill are gearing up to fight Pruitt's nomination, which Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, told The Hill was a "worst-case scenario when it comes to clean air and clean water."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another EPW member, also vowed to "vigorously" oppose Pruitt.
"At a time when climate change is the great environmental threat to the entire planet, it is sad and dangerous that Mr. Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA," he said.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Outrage continues to grow over Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President-elect Donald Trump, particularly over his climate change denial and ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Pruitt has drawn criticism for his belief that human-caused climate change is unproven, among other critical environmental issues.
"If a person jumped off a building because he said gravitation is only a theory, one would say he is delusional," Rush Holt, the executive director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said Wednesday. "So too, any policy maker who would base national policy on denial of climate science because there is 'debate' would be called dangerously irresponsible."
Or as Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, phrased it: "Having Scott Pruitt in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires."
As Common Dreams previously reported, Pruitt used his position as Oklahoma Attorney General to sue the EPA in an attempt to block measures to reduce pollution and protect waterways.
In response to Pruitt's appointment, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, on Thursday introduced the Preventing Preventable Earthquakes Act, referencing two major environmental issues associated with the EPA nominee--hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and Oklahoma's fracking-related earthquake crisis.
The bill would require states and the EPA to enforce earthquake-prevention provisions and work toward "zero induced seismicity."
Oklahoma is the de facto earthquake capital of the country, having recently experienced an uptick in seismic activity which scientists have linked to fracking and wastewater disposal. The latest big tremor, a magnitude-5.0 event in November, was the 19th earthquake in the state that week.
"The first step to cleaning up Pruitt's earthquake disaster is to stop it from getting worse," said Benjamin Schreiber, climate and energy director at Friends of the Earth, in response to Grijalva's bill. "It is clear that Donald Trump is willing to put Americans at risk in order to pump industry profits out of our natural resources."
Schreiber described the effect of fracking as "destructive and short-sighted."
Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said Wednesday, "Pruitt's statements and actions are in direct conflict with the job to which he has been nominated. [The EPA] defends environmental justice and fights the risk of catastrophic climate change. Under Pruitt's leadership, all of these policies will suffer and so will the Americans who rely on them."
Meanwhile, Democrats and greens on Capitol Hill are gearing up to fight Pruitt's nomination, which Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, told The Hill was a "worst-case scenario when it comes to clean air and clean water."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another EPW member, also vowed to "vigorously" oppose Pruitt.
"At a time when climate change is the great environmental threat to the entire planet, it is sad and dangerous that Mr. Trump has nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA," he said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.