SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
"I think there are some regulations that in the near-term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way. And I think maybe next week you may be hearing about some of those," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place near Washington, D.C..
Pruitt--who's been described as "a lackey for the big energy companies" and whose "confirmation shows once again that Republicans will deny climate change and protect the interests of Big Oil at all costs"--sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times during his tenure as Oklahoma attorney general. And his "close and friendly relationship" with fossil fuel companies was confirmed Tuesday, the day he began his term as EPA head, by the release of thousands of emails.
Reuters reports that during in his comments at CPAC,
Pruitt mentioned three rules ushered in by Obama that could meet the chopping block early on: the Waters of the U.S. rule outlining waterways that have federal protections; the Clean Power Plan requiring states to cut carbon emissions; and the U.S. Methane rule limiting emissions from oil and gas installations on federal land.
Pruitt also accused he agency of overreach during the previous administration and said it was "so focused on climate change and so focused on CO2," adding that Americans would be "justified" in wanting to completely get rid of the EPA. "I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS. I hope to be able to change that," he said. (A 2013 Pew Research survey on public opinions of federal agencies, however, doesn't back up his claim.)
USA Today adds:
One of [Pruitt's] top priorities, he said, will be providing businesses with "regulatory certainty."
"We're going to provide certainty by living within the framework that Congress has passed," he said. Obama-era regulations that don't fit within that framework will be rolled back, Pruitt added.
Bloomberg notes that
[a]s soon as Monday, PresidentDonald Trump is slated to sign documents compelling the EPA to begin undoing recent regulations, including the Clean Power Plan that slashes greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and the Waters of the U.S. rule that defined which waterways are subject to pollution regulation. Documents drafted by the Trump administration would direct Pruitt to begin dismantling those measures, helping fulfill the president's pledge to eviscerate rules he describes as throttling U.S. energy development.
From Trump's short time in office, wrote Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, it's clear "[he] is dead set on destroying the commonsense safeguards we all depend on to protect our environment and health, crippling our government's ability to stand up to industrial polluters, and shutting down the voice of the people in those actions that most impact our lives."
"Let's be just as clear as to who'll pay the price for this reckless assault on our values and rights: our families, workers, communities, and kids. That is not okay," she wrote.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. 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. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
"I think there are some regulations that in the near-term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way. And I think maybe next week you may be hearing about some of those," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place near Washington, D.C..
Pruitt--who's been described as "a lackey for the big energy companies" and whose "confirmation shows once again that Republicans will deny climate change and protect the interests of Big Oil at all costs"--sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times during his tenure as Oklahoma attorney general. And his "close and friendly relationship" with fossil fuel companies was confirmed Tuesday, the day he began his term as EPA head, by the release of thousands of emails.
Reuters reports that during in his comments at CPAC,
Pruitt mentioned three rules ushered in by Obama that could meet the chopping block early on: the Waters of the U.S. rule outlining waterways that have federal protections; the Clean Power Plan requiring states to cut carbon emissions; and the U.S. Methane rule limiting emissions from oil and gas installations on federal land.
Pruitt also accused he agency of overreach during the previous administration and said it was "so focused on climate change and so focused on CO2," adding that Americans would be "justified" in wanting to completely get rid of the EPA. "I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS. I hope to be able to change that," he said. (A 2013 Pew Research survey on public opinions of federal agencies, however, doesn't back up his claim.)
USA Today adds:
One of [Pruitt's] top priorities, he said, will be providing businesses with "regulatory certainty."
"We're going to provide certainty by living within the framework that Congress has passed," he said. Obama-era regulations that don't fit within that framework will be rolled back, Pruitt added.
Bloomberg notes that
[a]s soon as Monday, PresidentDonald Trump is slated to sign documents compelling the EPA to begin undoing recent regulations, including the Clean Power Plan that slashes greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and the Waters of the U.S. rule that defined which waterways are subject to pollution regulation. Documents drafted by the Trump administration would direct Pruitt to begin dismantling those measures, helping fulfill the president's pledge to eviscerate rules he describes as throttling U.S. energy development.
From Trump's short time in office, wrote Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, it's clear "[he] is dead set on destroying the commonsense safeguards we all depend on to protect our environment and health, crippling our government's ability to stand up to industrial polluters, and shutting down the voice of the people in those actions that most impact our lives."
"Let's be just as clear as to who'll pay the price for this reckless assault on our values and rights: our families, workers, communities, and kids. That is not okay," she wrote.
"I think there are some regulations that in the near-term need to be rolled back in a very aggressive way. And I think maybe next week you may be hearing about some of those," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) taking place near Washington, D.C..
Pruitt--who's been described as "a lackey for the big energy companies" and whose "confirmation shows once again that Republicans will deny climate change and protect the interests of Big Oil at all costs"--sued the agency he now leads more than a dozen times during his tenure as Oklahoma attorney general. And his "close and friendly relationship" with fossil fuel companies was confirmed Tuesday, the day he began his term as EPA head, by the release of thousands of emails.
Reuters reports that during in his comments at CPAC,
Pruitt mentioned three rules ushered in by Obama that could meet the chopping block early on: the Waters of the U.S. rule outlining waterways that have federal protections; the Clean Power Plan requiring states to cut carbon emissions; and the U.S. Methane rule limiting emissions from oil and gas installations on federal land.
Pruitt also accused he agency of overreach during the previous administration and said it was "so focused on climate change and so focused on CO2," adding that Americans would be "justified" in wanting to completely get rid of the EPA. "I think people across this country look at the EPA much like they look at the IRS. I hope to be able to change that," he said. (A 2013 Pew Research survey on public opinions of federal agencies, however, doesn't back up his claim.)
USA Today adds:
One of [Pruitt's] top priorities, he said, will be providing businesses with "regulatory certainty."
"We're going to provide certainty by living within the framework that Congress has passed," he said. Obama-era regulations that don't fit within that framework will be rolled back, Pruitt added.
Bloomberg notes that
[a]s soon as Monday, PresidentDonald Trump is slated to sign documents compelling the EPA to begin undoing recent regulations, including the Clean Power Plan that slashes greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation and the Waters of the U.S. rule that defined which waterways are subject to pollution regulation. Documents drafted by the Trump administration would direct Pruitt to begin dismantling those measures, helping fulfill the president's pledge to eviscerate rules he describes as throttling U.S. energy development.
From Trump's short time in office, wrote Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, it's clear "[he] is dead set on destroying the commonsense safeguards we all depend on to protect our environment and health, crippling our government's ability to stand up to industrial polluters, and shutting down the voice of the people in those actions that most impact our lives."
"Let's be just as clear as to who'll pay the price for this reckless assault on our values and rights: our families, workers, communities, and kids. That is not okay," she wrote.