Pruitt's Coal Mine Speech Heralds Resurrection of "Dirty Polluting Past"
EPA chief outlined vision for agency which guts environmental protections and bolsters fossil fuel industries
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday hailed a new era of environmental deregulation in a speech that took place in a coal mine recently fined for polluting local waterways.
Pruitt, who earlier that day called for the U.S. to exit the Paris climate deal, said the new EPA would focus on bolstering jobs in the fossil fuel industries, such as coal, oil, and gas, and would gut rules on fighting climate change, protecting water, and keeping a lid on vehicle emissions.
"The coal industry was nearly devastated by years of regulatory overreach, but with new direction from President [Donald] Trump, we are helping to turn things around for these miners and for many other hardworking Americans," he said.
Pruitt delivered the speech from Consol Energy mine in Harvey, Pennsylvania, which in 2016 was fined $3 million for sending millions of pounds of toxic materials into tributaries of the Ohio River from 2006 to 2015. As Environment America's clean water program director John Rumpler noted Thursday, Pruitt's vision for the EPA and the Trump administration's proposed budget would make it harder for the agency to hold polluters like Consol accountable in the future.
Among Pruitt's proposals are repealing the Clean Water Rule, which protects tributaries, along with more than half of U.S. streams, Rumpler noted. And the Trump administration has already paused an Obama-era rule that aimed to limit the dumping of toxic metals produced by power plants into the nation's waterways.
"So repealing the rule could leave companies like Consol with a license to pollute. Even local citizens would lack legal recourse to stop illegal pollution of such tributaries," he said.
"Finally...Pruitt's decision to extol the virtues of a coal mine flies in the face of everything we know about the science of climate change and the economics of energy policy," Rumper added. "We need to stop burning dirty coal for the future of the planet, and increasingly, low-cost renewables like wind and solar are leading the way. Pruitt's Thursday visit to Consol is a throwback to the dirty polluting past."
The Trump administration's budget proposal would also cut EPA funding by 31 percent and lay off 25 percent of its employees. Last week, a 30-year staffer quit with a public letter to Pruitt warning him that "many EPA staff are becoming [increasingly] alarmed about the direction of EPA under your leadership."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday hailed a new era of environmental deregulation in a speech that took place in a coal mine recently fined for polluting local waterways.
Pruitt, who earlier that day called for the U.S. to exit the Paris climate deal, said the new EPA would focus on bolstering jobs in the fossil fuel industries, such as coal, oil, and gas, and would gut rules on fighting climate change, protecting water, and keeping a lid on vehicle emissions.
"The coal industry was nearly devastated by years of regulatory overreach, but with new direction from President [Donald] Trump, we are helping to turn things around for these miners and for many other hardworking Americans," he said.
Pruitt delivered the speech from Consol Energy mine in Harvey, Pennsylvania, which in 2016 was fined $3 million for sending millions of pounds of toxic materials into tributaries of the Ohio River from 2006 to 2015. As Environment America's clean water program director John Rumpler noted Thursday, Pruitt's vision for the EPA and the Trump administration's proposed budget would make it harder for the agency to hold polluters like Consol accountable in the future.
Among Pruitt's proposals are repealing the Clean Water Rule, which protects tributaries, along with more than half of U.S. streams, Rumpler noted. And the Trump administration has already paused an Obama-era rule that aimed to limit the dumping of toxic metals produced by power plants into the nation's waterways.
"So repealing the rule could leave companies like Consol with a license to pollute. Even local citizens would lack legal recourse to stop illegal pollution of such tributaries," he said.
"Finally...Pruitt's decision to extol the virtues of a coal mine flies in the face of everything we know about the science of climate change and the economics of energy policy," Rumper added. "We need to stop burning dirty coal for the future of the planet, and increasingly, low-cost renewables like wind and solar are leading the way. Pruitt's Thursday visit to Consol is a throwback to the dirty polluting past."
The Trump administration's budget proposal would also cut EPA funding by 31 percent and lay off 25 percent of its employees. Last week, a 30-year staffer quit with a public letter to Pruitt warning him that "many EPA staff are becoming [increasingly] alarmed about the direction of EPA under your leadership."
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on Thursday hailed a new era of environmental deregulation in a speech that took place in a coal mine recently fined for polluting local waterways.
Pruitt, who earlier that day called for the U.S. to exit the Paris climate deal, said the new EPA would focus on bolstering jobs in the fossil fuel industries, such as coal, oil, and gas, and would gut rules on fighting climate change, protecting water, and keeping a lid on vehicle emissions.
"The coal industry was nearly devastated by years of regulatory overreach, but with new direction from President [Donald] Trump, we are helping to turn things around for these miners and for many other hardworking Americans," he said.
Pruitt delivered the speech from Consol Energy mine in Harvey, Pennsylvania, which in 2016 was fined $3 million for sending millions of pounds of toxic materials into tributaries of the Ohio River from 2006 to 2015. As Environment America's clean water program director John Rumpler noted Thursday, Pruitt's vision for the EPA and the Trump administration's proposed budget would make it harder for the agency to hold polluters like Consol accountable in the future.
Among Pruitt's proposals are repealing the Clean Water Rule, which protects tributaries, along with more than half of U.S. streams, Rumpler noted. And the Trump administration has already paused an Obama-era rule that aimed to limit the dumping of toxic metals produced by power plants into the nation's waterways.
"So repealing the rule could leave companies like Consol with a license to pollute. Even local citizens would lack legal recourse to stop illegal pollution of such tributaries," he said.
"Finally...Pruitt's decision to extol the virtues of a coal mine flies in the face of everything we know about the science of climate change and the economics of energy policy," Rumper added. "We need to stop burning dirty coal for the future of the planet, and increasingly, low-cost renewables like wind and solar are leading the way. Pruitt's Thursday visit to Consol is a throwback to the dirty polluting past."
The Trump administration's budget proposal would also cut EPA funding by 31 percent and lay off 25 percent of its employees. Last week, a 30-year staffer quit with a public letter to Pruitt warning him that "many EPA staff are becoming [increasingly] alarmed about the direction of EPA under your leadership."