The following article by Mark Hand was posted on the ThinkProgress website January 11, 2018:
Group urges Senate to reject “radioactive nominee.”
Donald Trump, as a presidential candidate, vowed to “to promote clean air and clean water.”
Since assuming the presidency almost a year ago, though, Trump has offered no indication that he plans to keep that promise. Whether it’s his rollback of regulations that protect air and water or his nomination of anti-environment candidates to high-level environmental positions in the government, the president appears determined to send the nation back to the days of highly polluted rivers and uncontrollable levels of smog.
Trump has nominated several radical figures to fill top slots in his government to carry out his anti-environment agenda. One of his most extreme nominees is Kathleen Hartnett White, whom Trump picked to fill a key White House post advising him on environmental policies. White is a researcher who has worked on the fringes of the scientific community after serving as chairwoman of the Texas Council on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) more than 10 years ago.
White failed in her attempt to get confirmed to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) post in 2017; earlier this week, Trump renominatedher to the top environmental post. The CEQ coordinates federal environmental efforts, including overseeing the National Environmental Policy Act, and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives. Continue reading “The radioactive history of Trump’s pick to advise him on environmental issues”