Scott Pruitt undermines the EPA with anti-scientific ignorance
Donald Trump’s foreign policy and legislative agenda may be a confused mess due to amateurism, impulsiveness and understaffing, but his administration’s attack on the environment is operating with the focus and zeal of the Spanish Inquisition. Led by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Trump team is moving quickly to return national environmental policy to a pre-scientific age.
The Trump administration’s proposed federal budget would whack the Environmental Protection Agency especially hard — a 30% cut. Even some big corporations that are less-than-enthusiastic fans of the EPA are worried the budget stinginess will be problematic for their operations because there won’t be enough staff at the agency to process and approve the applications needed to move ahead with environmentally sensitive projects.
Nevertheless, Pruitt is intent on a complete neutering of the agency he runs. It came to light this week that the new director is now demanding that all but the most insignificant enforcement measures taken anywhere in the country get a review in Washington, presumably to determine if they are out of step with Pruitt’s pro-industry cheerleading.
EPA scientists who do research into the causes and effects of climate change have been put on notice much like Galileo got put on the spot by the Vatican. When Galileo proclaimed that the Earth revolves around the sun, the church demanded that he recant or be branded a heretic. Like medieval priests, Pruitt and Trump do not want to be contradicted by any scientific findings that refute their belief that climate change is a hoax. That is why Trump has also told NASA to stop collecting climate change data from orbiting satellites.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-pruitt-undermines-20170406-story.html
