{"id":18486,"date":"2018-04-04T14:59:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T19:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=18486"},"modified":"2018-04-04T14:59:51","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T19:59:51","slug":"the-real-danger-to-our-health-from-scott-pruitts-scandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2018\/04\/04\/the-real-danger-to-our-health-from-scott-pruitts-scandals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Danger to Our Health from Scott Pruitt\u2019s Scandals"},"content":{"rendered":"

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been swamped by scandal, from taking first class flights at taxpayer expense to living in a lobbyist\u2019s condo.<\/p>\n

Pruitt\u2019s behavior is unethical but, even more importantly, his actions will lead to greater health risks from pollution in our air, water, and land.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t ignore the public health crisis created, in part, by Pruitt\u2019s ethical crisis.<\/p>\n

SCANDAL: PRUITT HIRES OKLAHOMA BANKING FRIEND <\/strong><\/p>\n

IMPACT: WILL TOXIC WASTE SITES BE CLEANED UP PROPERLY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pruitt hired close friend and disgraced former banker Albert \u201cKell\u201d Kelly to oversee the Superfund program, which is responsible for the cleanup of toxic waste sites.<\/p>\n

As head of his family\u2019s bank in Oklahoma, Kelly lent Pruitt \u2014 then a $38,000 a year state legislator \u2014 money for a large house and part ownership in a minor league baseball team.<\/p>\n

Since then, the FDIC has banned Kelly from the financial services industry for life. But Pruitt gave Kelly a job \u201cstreamlining\u201d Superfund despite no previous environmental or public health experience.<\/p>\n

Kelly owns stock<\/a> in companies responsible for contaminating some Superfund sites.<\/p>\n

There are serious questions<\/a> about whether this \u201cstreamlining\u201d is code for doing quick, incomplete cleanup of toxic sites in order to show progress for public relations purposes. That would let polluters off the hook while saddling Americans with greater risks of illness.<\/p>\n

SCANDAL: PRUITT GETS SWEETHEART CONDO DEAL FROM LOBBYIST<\/strong><\/p>\n

IMPACT: OIL LOBBYISTS GAIN ACCESS, CARS AND TRUCKS WILL GET DIRTIER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pruitt received a below-market-value housing arrangement from the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist whose clients stood to potentially gain from actions taken by the Administrator.<\/p>\n

Pruitt\u2019s favoritism for industry led to announcements<\/a> like the weakening of America\u2019s clean cars standards \u2013 a move that will cause more pollution, smog, and asthma attacks.<\/p>\n

Pruitt also met with executives from Fitzgerald Truck Sales and created a loophole<\/a> for their high polluting trucks, which will cost thousands of lives a year from health problems due to dirtier air.<\/p>\n

The condo deal was likely not an actual quid pro quo<\/em>, but Pruitt\u2019s coziness with industry and willingness to accept their favors creates unhealthy, unethical influence and accesses.<\/p>\n

SCANDAL: PRUITT HIRES SENIOR OFFICIAL FROM CHEMICAL INDUSTRY LOBBYING ARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

IMPACT: UNDERMINING OF NEW CHEMICAL SAFETY LAW, ALLOWING DANGEROUS CHEMICALS ON THE MARKET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using an obscure provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act, Pruitt hired Nancy Beck directly from the American Chemistry Council \u2013 the main trade group for the chemical industry. Because she was hired that way, she did not have to sign the Administration\u2019s ethics pledge, which would have limited her actions on issues related to her former industry.<\/p>\n

Beck now effectively runs the EPA office that oversees her old industry, and is charged with implementing the framework rules for the 2016 chemical safety law.<\/p>\n

That law was a major upgrade, fixing a badly broken system that allowed tens of thousands of potentially hazardous chemicals to remain on or enter the market \u2014 and Beck\u2019s rules are on their way to breaking it all over again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One example: Pruitt\u2019s EPA shelved plans to ban paint strippers that use methylene chloride, which is proven to be dangerous and has led to dozens of deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SCANDAL: SECRET SCHEDULE, SECRET PHONE BOOTH<\/strong><\/p>\n

IMPACT: UNKNOWN IMPACT OF LOBBYISTS ON POLICY <\/strong><\/p>\n

Pruitt keeps much of his schedule hidden<\/a>, and sometimes doesn\u2019t allow note taking in meetings, so it\u2019s hard to tell who he talks to about what.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also being investigated by the Inspector General for spending $43,000 on a secure phone facility next to his office \u2013 even though the EPA building already has one.<\/p>\n

But based on the information that has come out, we know he spends a great deal of time listening to corporate lobbyists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The result is an agenda that not only leans against health and anti-pollution rules, but one marked by favors to key industries with ties to Pruitt, such as attempts to ease methane pollution rules for natural gas companies.<\/p>\n

As William Ruckelshaus, EPA administrator under Presidents Nixon and Reagan said, Pruitt is:<\/p>\n

\u201ctaking a meat ax to the protections of public health and environment and then hiding it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of Pruitt\u2019s scandals are purely cases of behavior that is unethical, like his use of first class flights. Those are serious and, because they have happened repeatedly, suggest he\u2019s unfit for his public trust.<\/p>\n

But we shouldn\u2019t forget the far more dangerous impact of many of his scandals: our children will inherit a less clean, less healthy world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been swamped by scandal, from taking first class flights at taxpayer expense to living in a lobbyist\u2019s condo. Pruitt\u2019s behavior is unethical but, even more importantly, his actions will lead to greater health risks from pollution in our air, water, and land. We can\u2019t ignore the public health crisis created, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,20,44,397],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-18486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-news","category-policy","category-truth-squad"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Real Danger to Our Health from Scott Pruitt\u2019s Scandals - Climate 411<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2018\/04\/04\/the-real-danger-to-our-health-from-scott-pruitts-scandals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Real Danger to Our Health from Scott Pruitt\u2019s Scandals - Climate 411\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has been swamped by scandal, from taking first class flights at taxpayer expense to living in a lobbyist\u2019s condo. 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