Tag: Trump EPA

The Chemical Industry Scores a Big Win at the EPA

The following article by Eric Lipton was posted on the New York Times website June 7, 2018:

After heavy lobbying by the chemical industry, the EPA narrowed how it will conduct toxic substance safety checks — like perchloroethylene, used in dry cleaning. Credit: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, after heavy lobbying by the chemical industry, is scaling back the way the federal government determines health and safety risks associated with the most dangerous chemicals on the market, documents from the Environmental Protection Agency show.

Under a law passed by Congress during the final year of the Obama administration, the E.P.A. was required for the first time to evaluate hundreds of potentially toxic chemicals and determine if they should face new restrictions, or even be removed from the market. The chemicals include many in everyday use, such as dry-cleaning solvents, paint strippers and substances used in health and beauty products like shampoos and cosmetics.

But as it moves forward reviewing the first batch of 10 chemicals, the E.P.A. has in most cases decided to exclude from its calculations any potential exposure caused by the substances’ presence in the air, the ground or water, according to more than 1,500 pages of documents released last week by the agency.

Instead, the agency will focus on possible harm caused by direct contact with a chemical in the workplace or elsewhere. The approach means that the improper disposal of chemicals — leading to the contamination of drinking water, for instance — will often not be a factor in deciding whether to restrict or ban them. Continue reading “The Chemical Industry Scores a Big Win at the EPA”

Pruitt enlisted security detail in picking up dry cleaning, moisturizing lotion

The following article by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Brady Dennis was posted on the Washington Post website June 8, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

This post has been updated.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked members of his 24/7 security detail to run errands for him on occasion, including picking up his dry cleaning and taking him in search of a favorite moisturizing lotion, according to two individuals familiar with those trips who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly.

Pruitt, who also has enlisted agency staffers in tasks including apartment hunting and securing a mattress for his personal use, faces congressional scrutiny over an expanding number of spending and management decisions. Federal rules bar public officials from receiving gifts from subordinates, including unpaid services, and from using their office for private gain. Continue reading “Pruitt enlisted security detail in picking up dry cleaning, moisturizing lotion”

The problems with Pruitt: A complete guide

The following article by Emily Holden, Alex Guillén and Kelsey Tamborrino was posted on the Politico website April 26, 2018 and updated June 20, 2018:

From Chick-fil-A to a stay in a lobbyist’s condo, these are the ethical quandaries spurring investigations into the EPA chief’s conduct.

Spending

His first-class flights, round-the-clock security, new SUV and sweep for bugs have raised questions.

Continue reading “The problems with Pruitt: A complete guide”

Judge orders EPA to disclose any science backing up Pruitt’s climate claims

The following article by Megan Geuss was posted on the arstechnica.com website June 5, 2018:

EPA will have to comply with an information request by July.

Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flick

In March 2017, Scott Pruitt, the new administrator of Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, appeared on CNBC and said that carbon dioxide was not known to be a major factor in climate change. “I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see,” Pruitt said, adding, “there’s a tremendous disagreement about the degree of the impact” of “human activity on the climate.”

Based on what?

The next day, a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the EPA, asking for any agency documents that Administrator Pruitt may have relied on to come to his conclusions. Since Pruitt’s words contradicted scientific evidence shared by the EPA before the administrator took office, PEER’s request might turn up some recent document that indicated Pruitt had new information.Instead, the EPA stalled and refused to provide any information to PEER. The employee group then sued the agency. Continue reading “Judge orders EPA to disclose any science backing up Pruitt’s climate claims”

Pruitt Aide Resigns Amid Scandals

The following article by Elaina Plott was posted on the Atlantic website June 6, 2018:

Millan Hupp filed her paperwork shortly after portions of her congressional testimony were made public.

Credit: Kaster/AP Photo

A top aide to Scott Pruitt, Millan Hupp, resigned from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a source briefed on the matter and correspondence reviewed by The Atlantic. Her last day will be Friday.

Hupp, who worked as the director of scheduling and advance, has been entangled in many of the scandals dogging EPA Administrator Pruitt. In March, she was one of two aides who received hefty salary bumps, even after the White House refused Pruitt’s request for raises. And as The Washington Post reported on Monday, she recently testified to the House Oversight Committee that she regularly spent her days doing personal tasks for Pruitt, from hunting for housing to calling the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., in order to inquire about purchasing a used mattress. Continue reading “Pruitt Aide Resigns Amid Scandals”

Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job — with Chick-fil-A

The following article by Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website June 5, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chief executive of the fast-food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”?

A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with someone from the company’s legal department. Only then did he reveal that the “opportunity” on his mind was a job for his wife, Marlyn. Continue reading “Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job — with Chick-fil-A”

New emails show EPA scheming with climate change deniers

The following article by Caroline Orr was posted on the ShareBlue.com website June 1, 2018:

Newly released emails show EPA officials working with a right-wing think tank in a coordinated effort to undermine climate science.

© Getty

Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been quietly working with climate change deniers at a conservative think tank to discredit climate science, according to a slew of newly released emails.

The emails, which were unveiled as part of a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), reveal a new level of coordination between Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the Heartland Institute, a fossil fuel-funded think tank that has spent years manufacturing an alternative body of pseudoscientific research meant to call into question mainstream climate science. Continue reading “New emails show EPA scheming with climate change deniers”

Firm discloses more EPA lobbying by advocate with ties to Pruitt condo rental

The following article by Megan R. Wilson was posted on the Hill website June 1, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt Credit: Andrew Harnik/AP

A lobbyist whose wife rented a condo to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt lobbied the agency for three clients last year, apparently contradicting his claim that he hadn’t represented clients at the EPA during the Trump administration, according to new disclosure forms filed by his former employer.

J. Steven Hart, who formerly served as the chairman of law and lobbying firm Williams & Jensen, advocated at the EPA for Coca-Cola, the Financial Oversight and Management Control Board of Puerto Rico and Smithfield Foods. Continue reading “Firm discloses more EPA lobbying by advocate with ties to Pruitt condo rental”

EPA’s Pruitt spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens from Washington jewelry store

The following article by Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin was posted on the Washington Post website June 1, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

The account manager at the Tiny Jewel Box, which calls itself Washington’s “premier destination for fine jewelry and watches,” had promised to expedite the order of a dozen customized silver fountain pens — each emblazoned with the seal of the Environmental Protection Agency and the signature of its leader, Scott Pruitt.

Now all that the EPA staff member working with the store needed was for a top Pruitt aide to sign off on the $3,230 order, which also included personalized journals. Continue reading “EPA’s Pruitt spent $1,560 on 12 customized fountain pens from Washington jewelry store”

E.P.A. Takes a Major Step to Roll Back Clean Car Rules

The following article by Coral Davenport was posted on the New York Times website May 31, 2018:

Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, second from left, with auto executives and President Trump in May. Credit: Jonathan Ernst, Reuters

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration took a major step toward dramatically weakening an Obama-era rule designed to cut pollution from vehicle tailpipes, setting the stage for a legal clash with California that could potentially split the nation’s auto market in two.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday submitted its proposal to roll back climate change rules that required automakers to nearly double the fuel economy of passenger vehicles to an average of more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. The rules, which would have significantly lowered the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, were opposed by automakers who said they were overly burdensome. Continue reading “E.P.A. Takes a Major Step to Roll Back Clean Car Rules”