Re: “Our View: Next EPA chief must clean up Pruitt’s mess” (July 9):
On July 5, President Trump tweeted about the official resignation of Scott Pruitt as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. This announcement followed months of allegations regarding Pruitt’s spending habits, closed-door meetings with industry and other ethical issues.
But the real story of Pruitt’s tenure was his relentless destruction of federal policies that protect the nation’s air, water and health. Case in point – on his last day of service at the EPA, Pruitt granted a pass to diesel truck manufacturers on constructing new trucks with refurbished engines. These “super polluters” dump 55 times more toxins and carcinogens into our air than trucks with new engines with modern emissions controls.
Although Scott Pruitt is out of the EPA, we need to work to right his anti-environmental actions and take tangible steps toward protecting our air, land and water. But the agency’s interim administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is an open climate-change denier, has roots in the coal industry and will most likely support the policies and ideals of the Pruitt administration.
This switch in power is a critical time for concerned citizens to tell their elected officials to advocate for an EPA that stands with the environment and not fossil fuel companies. There should no longer be a disunion between protecting the environment and the agenda of the EPA. We need an EPA administrator who embraces our nation’s values of protecting the environment and the health of our families.
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