Fire him
Claw all his expenses back
And his salary
Then
Send him to jail for stealing from the American taxpayer.
3
The left wing of this nation needs to rise up out of the thick cloud of pot smoke and prosperity and take back this nation in a BIG way AT THE POLLS! These right wing thinly veiled phony Jesus people are quite literally destroying decades of hard fought bi-partisan agreements. This is not your fathers GOP. This one is far more greedy and power hungry. For the first time in my life as a US citizen, I am actually considering where I might relocate my family.
5
He's still there? What happened?
1
"...... his activities as a public servant."
PUBLIC SERVANT?!
Pruitt serves only his own interests, and doesn't have an altruistic, sensible, forward-thinking, humane, or decent bone in his entire body. One could spend pages tearing this evil man apart and not even say half of what's wrong about him.
He needs to head in a completely different direction. Out.
5
Freedom! MAGA! Freedom of the press, not so much.
1
Throw him in the same waste basket as Trump and enlist them in those "new" coal mining jobs they keep talking about. If you believe in heaven, they're never going there. Another fox "guarding" the hen house.
2
Most corrupt, all-out flagrant assault on the environment ever. Pruitt will go down in history as the greatest scoundrel who ever walked the halls of EPA.
2
Ugh, every time I read something about The “HONORABLE” Mr Prewitt, I need to go take a shower to wash off the slimy feeling.
2
Rich white men are such fragile flowers. They should never be subjected to the vicissitudes of abject reality.
3
If he is so fearful of us citizens then he should go live somewhere so that won’t be a problem. I suggest a deserted island and the sooner the better.
2
Pruitt is the face of the new GOP and its motto, spend while you can and take all you can.
Trump, Pruitt, McConnell and Ryan are all out for themselves, that is the new GOP. They are taking the money and running without any concern for others or the future. Pruitt is not fooling anyone, he is a grifter. He has full reason to be paranoid, we are on to him. The law will catch up to him soon.
3
This man is selling our lands, water and air to industry so he and some friends can make some quick money. It's disgusting and will have consequences for our children and all of us for years to come.
3
Tell me Oklahoma is not this hothouse environment where individuals assume they are not responsible/accountable.
4
Scott Pruitt does not get to divide Americans into "friendly" and "unfriendly".
To him, we all carry the same title. It's The Boss.
If he is so terrified of being asked to justify his actions and policies by The Boss, he should clearly understand that The Boss does not wholeheartedly support them.
Pruitt's choice is not to burrow into secret phone booths, private planes and hidden meetings. Pruitt's only choices are to find policies that The Boss can endorse or quit.
6
Pruitt presents us with a highlight reel in this Trump mis-administration: The Grand Con.
5
right..wouldn't want the public who is negatively affected by rollback of environmental protections to speak to the guy who has the power to enact those rollbacks. far too democratic for this awful administration.
10
Irony is the party of "personal responsibility," "financial responsibility," and "bravery" having none of the above.
18
Any executive, government official or elected leader who is recusing themselves from public questions is hiding something.
22
As I've said before: if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.
8
The future isn’t what it used to be quipped the prince. It will have more pollution for the public and more profits us! So be sure not to mention this to anyone who cares about anything else. Trump is totally into whatever makes you happy and say or do anything - just be quiet about it.
3
Pruitt is a total sociopath. He lies with no remorse. He steals from the public and thinks he is entitled to the largesse. He blames his failings on others. Most ominously, he is willing to kill thousands of Americans without pulling a trigger or lighting a fuse by destroying environmental protections that keep us safe. The days of Lake Erie on fire, killer smog and frack-induced earthquakes are upon us, and Pruitt smiles and obstructs.
This man must be fired. He is a poster-child for the evil incompetence of the Trump administration. If Trump and the GOP know what is good for them, they will scuttle this evil reprobate before the mid-term elections. He will be the subject of thousands of negative television ads as emblematic of Trump's plot to destroy America.
21
Fired. And PROSECUTED. Let us count the charges...
3
Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing Pruitt leaving any time soon. He's Carl Icahn's man. Icahn advised Trump to install him in that office. Trump so wants to please Icahn that he'll keep him there till Carl tells him to let Pruitt go. For now, Pruitt continues to do Icahn's bidding, recently granting a 'hardships' waiver to one of his refineries. The waiver enables Icahn's CVR Energy Inc (CVI.N) to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.
Yeah, Pruitt will be around a while.
10
182 days to Mid-term election. Please vote out every single GOP congressman and senator. Corrupt administration from top to bottom.
23
EVERYTHING about Scott Pruitt is an insult, backed by a string of lies. This "man" is, by Law, directed to Protect the Environment of our Nation. That is his job, and his sworn duty.
Instead, he destroys and sells our Environment to the highest bidder. Under his watch as Attorney General of Oklahoma, Fracking increased in the State at a beyond-rapid pace. Also, increasing at the same time, were Earthquakes all over Oklahoma. In some towns, the ground water became so polluted from Fracking that you could pour a glass of water from the kitchen tap, and then set it on fire with a simple match.
There has been no other Director of the EPA who has requested (and gotten!) a 24/7 Security Detail. That, of itself, shows how low, sneaky, and paranoid this creep is. You bet, a lot of people hate him, and for the right reasons.
Once our Clean Water and Open Countryside of our national Parks are gone, they are gone Forever. Pruitt doesn't care. He just wants more money for himself and his corporate pals.
It is heartening to see the Public Outcry against this crook, but it is not enough. The very worst of everything Trump stands for is personified by Scott Pruitt. When (oh, when?) will our Senate and Congress have the guts and legislation to throw this bum out ?
29
Pruitt should have been ousted long ago just for all the inappropriate criminal spending of American citizen’s money done by his travels and his outrageous phone booth. And the Republican Congress wants to cut expenses? That’s a laugh. They would rather cut health care than stop Pruitt’s personal spending.
15
Saving the coal mines is a death sentence for the miners not to mention the American public. Coal kills
19
Why can't the Environmental Protection "Administrator" be prosecuted for working against the protection of the environment? That had to involve perjury somewhere, or nobody asked any relevant questions. Can a proposed appointee just lie to Congress with impunity? Why hold confirmation hearings?
28
Why go through that stupid oath-taking ritual that ratifies the delusions of these narcissists that they are God's favorite creations as they swear on an ancient collection of fables? They sure don't swear any oaths to you or me.
9
I wrote a comment on the EPA website against the proposed offshore drilling, and two months later went back to the website to find it. No dice; they definitely have directions to hide what doesn’t accord with the director’s fiat.
26
To think this man , who has means way beyond most of us is not only getting paid with our hard earned dollars, he steals more by hiding his activities. Even in my home state, when someone was caught benefiting illegally, they were arrested and made to pay. A governor, a speaker of the house.a mayor. And they didn't even flaunt it like this guy. Just think , how many hours did you work last year just so he could travel 1st class, go on a trip, live like a king and still maintain his wealth. Were you able to even take a vacation, pay your own bills? When will the GOP show they bear some of this guilt a man like him is enabled. When our taxes go up and his coffers grow remember to thank the republicans in November.
22
A vacation? What's that?
3
So glad I'm paying Scott's salary.
3
Not the appropriate leader for the agency...by any measure.
12
Does Trump go out of his way to appoint people who have no guts?
5
Is this grade school or fitting form for a man whoś supposed to be equipped to handle questions pertaining to the EPA? These are dark days for this country; weŕe moving backwards . Those who represent an agency and what it stands for should not be out to destroy its aims and higher purpose. Itś clear Pruit is sabotaging the EPA and lowering it to his skewed standards.
10
Long ago, we had a president--Herbert Hoover--who hated talking to the press, and virtually anyone else who might ask a question. So a female reporter dressed as a Girl Scout leader and infiltrated a Christmas party at the White House for Girl Scouts. Think reporters ought to start infiltrating Pruitt's events--if they can find them--rather than phoning for an invitation which surely will not be forthcoming.
15
See that gorgeous painted vista of Yosemite in the background of the photo of Right Honorable Pruitt at the top of this article? That may be all that's left of Yosemite once this poser is through.
12
Pruitt is paranoid. Many of those in this chain of comments who support him seem to be paranoid as well. Black Cubes, Deep States, secret deals with foreign dictators and all the rest of this decline into lunacy are going to bring down Trump and there may well be lots of damage to good faith and good acts before they're defeated. But... most of us are decent grown-ups and we'll restore the country to ethical and reasonable policies.
43
Drain the swamp of these lowly, small, and petty creatures, I've got humongous and tremendously big ones to replace them with said the useless carbon footprint. Who needs a paycheck when we have the US Treasury as a slush fund to take care of all our whims. I mean, I knew Pruitt loves to live the high life, but he's giving the "high life" new life...lol, taxpayers are so easily taken for fools. Me, I don't even pay income taxes, talk about sticking it to taxpayers real good. Life if so sweet, said the man in the Oval Office.
9
Scott Pruit needs to be fired, he is not for environmental protection, he and his minions are for the destruction of everything on the planet! What a nightmare we are living through.
12
I guess it's no surprise now, as I drive through Iowa that I see Pruitt's handiwork:
once-verdant creeks and streams denuded of trees and foliage whose roots stabilized banks from erosion. What a travesty! Thank goodness that Nature is more powerful than all the greedy, enviro-ignorant tweedle dees and tweedle DUMBS - like Pruitt - in Washington. Drain the swamp, indeed. Instead, convert DC into one huge rain garden, and let those-who-would defile Nature slither back to a rock somewhere else!
5
Who didn't know that Scott Pruitt was a corrupt moral degenerate corporate plutocrat lawyer patisan political stooge for the fossil fuel industry?
12
Pruitt,
You have violated so many of the 18 U.S.C. Laws as well as 5 C.F.R. Part 2635 several Subparts, especially Subparts B and E!
And with the latest reporting that you showed favoritism with Hugh Hewitt who resides in Orange County, fast tracking an EPA clean up fund site, you certainly are once again violating Subpart E, "Impartiality in Performing Official Duties".
Time for you to resign! You are a disgrace to public office!
The New York Times needs to do some serious reporting about these clear violations of breaking the law! Start referencing the codes and laws that are being broken so that it can be used in Court filings.
11
Pruitt is not only a grifter but he's a coward, unwilling to face his constituency - the American people - to defend and answer for his actions as a public official. He is more deserving of a jail cell than his government position.
11
Scott Pruitt is "Swamp Thing," ensconced in the EPA to enable the President to fill the swamp to flood levels.
4
Were you expecting anything different from the United States of Autocracy?
#calexit - because you deserve better than a garbage country.
3
Pruitt should have joined Jim Webb and Ann Gorsuch as failed cabinet members well before now. Is Donald so distracted by events that he has no time to be president?
2
In the movie "The Godfather" the senior Corleone is seen talking to his son, Micheal, wishing that he would not get mixed up in the more brutal aspects of the family business so that, perhaps, one day he might run for senate or, god forbid, president of the U.S. Was Mario Puzo prescient? Have we, indeed, elected a mob boss and its all too nefarious extended family to the highest offices of our nation?
3
The trump administrations mascot, swampy the swamp thing always says, ‘Scott Pruitt is the best friend a polluter ever had. That’s because he takes a lot of money from lobbyists to make sure environmental laws go away’
3
The word “snowflake” springs to mind. How many will we lose as a result of this man’s wilful ignorance?
5
what a piece of work! My question - how does he get away with this? what is he doing that he doesn't want the public - the people he works for - to know about? Sleazy, sleazy, sleazy.
Perhaps when the House and Senate flip, they will have the backbone to end this charade.
3
Put me down as "unfriendly."
6
There is nothing honorable about Scott Pruitt , a smidgen of a man , yes he may know what to do with cake and eventually he'll be eating his in jail . The future sure ain't what it used to be but Yogi had another gem , it's not over til the fat lady sings and Scott , she'll sing a whole opera for you .
3
This is the most corrupt administration ever! And Scott Pruitt is at the top of the list. He should be in jail not in government. Enough already, lock him up!
5
How Trumpian and deleterious to the rest of us.
1
Trump doesn't like it when his boys get more press than him. See you later Scott.
1
A big THANK YOU to the Sierra Club for thwarting Pruitt's attempt at censorship.
4
Standing in front of a picture of Yosemite says it all. I bet the only time this guy goes outside at all is to get in or out of his limo.
1
Donald Trump has reportedly told 3000 lies since the media started counting.But the biggest lie is this: “I have the best people.”
4
Hiding his corruption and service to industry while showing no regard for the the public, shows Pruitt has all of the true characteristics of this disgusting administration.
2
What is it with these Trump administration guys? They all have God complexes. They think they answer to no one and that the treasury exists for their personal use. Pruitt seems to have no understanding of the concept of "public service." No matter how grand Pruitt may think he is, in reality he is just a government employee, the same as the guy who cleans his office, or the people who work at the post office. Where his inflated view of himself comes from is a mystery. And, who are these flunkys that shield and coddle him? How is it even a government job to spend your time making sure your boss doesn't have to answer any questions or explain himself? Our tax dollars go toward paying these people, for Pete's sake!
60
Trump keeps Pruitt as a diversionary tactic.
1
Lies and corruption in darkness thrive.
But hey, it’s the Republican way.
2
How is Pruitt still in his job?
His resistance to being an honest and transparent agency head seems deeply pathological.
His grandiose sense of entitlement, sociopathic.
Horrifying.
4
This guy needs to go away and never return
2
Resign now pruitt! Your attacks on the environment are spectacularly unhelpful. Do you not have children or nieces or new nephews? The climate is already becoming unstable. Do you not care for other human beings? Is money all you want out of life? Do the right thing and get out!
2
Pruitt is a grifter of the first order, someone obviously aware his actions are dirty and corrupt. Sure, he needs to go, but I shudder to think who will replace him.
2
With every revelation, this man becomes more loathsome
3
Pruitt is a Public Servant. All Public Servants live off the peoples dime and are accountable to them, end of story.
1
What's indicated in the dictionary when you look up "swamp creature".
Ethics? We ain't got no ethics. We don't need no ethics. I don't have to show you any stinkin' ethics!
1
This man is a disgrace. How much more of this behavior will be tolerated before he is fired? He makes a mockery of the the title "public servant."
1
He couldn't just grab a couple of slices of pizza and call it evening. I'd love to see what Pruitt would do if his travel was on his dime.
1
This guy is so awful in so many ways, he is practically a caricature of himself. Kind of reminds me of his boss.
1
This guy is so obviously a crook and he just doesn't care what anyone thinks. The perfect sociopath for trump world. How did we spawn such creatures?
This is why the DOJ must remain independent, and I would suggest ratcheting up penalties for breaching the public trust, to a very severe degree.
1
Corruption unchecked is disgusting. Another rabid Republican appointee who is only "serving" to line his sorry pockets. When will the Republican party wake up and care about what they have done to the most beautiful nation on earth?
Register and VOTE!!!
1
If we humans survive for a couple more of hundreds of years, and the history can be written, no one will believe that cretins of this sort were allowed to serve in these positions.
1
He hides from questioning like a coward because he knows his dismantling of epa protections is a deep betrayal of the American people.
1
Will somebody please convince Pruitt that Yucca Mountain is the safest place to hold his next town hall meeting? Show him the entry, give him a tour, and then lock him in there. Alone.
3
Of all the wretched, unqualified people that POTUS selected to surround himself with, Scott Pruitt is the most despicable. (although with the rot and incompetence that reeks through this entire Cabinet, the competition is fierce).
My heart literally hurts and I'm sick with nausea over the unfathomable tragedy that defines this entire, corrupt Administration from the top down.
VOTE in every election! VOTE as if your life and our planet's future depends on it...because it does. VOTE!
3
He 's a a joke and he and his staff know it.
1
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt...is an oxymoron.
1
Looks like Pruitt’s agency is making the “fake news.” Why would Trump put up with this? Trump supposedly is so good at calling out the news that is fake.
2
This man still has a cabinet position for which we pay his salary, why???? Or just a job, for that matter?
Come on, already!
Wake up congress. Do your job. What is wrong with you?
3
Probably because Congress doesn't have much of a say in the matter. Their only option is start the impeachment process, and I'm not sure these would qualify as impeachable acts
1
United States of ... China? Russia?
2
Complement of Pruitt and our new and improved E.P.A. ::
On the house, free of charge, a big fat helping of lung cancer for anyone who breaths.
1
Transparency? Ridiculous!
2
This guy is so plain dangerous he can say the biggest lie with an angel face,, every time I read an article about him it makes me feel like taking a shower.
4
hmmmmm...... he asked to be referred as "Honorable" as opposed to "EPA Administrator" .... this says it all, could he lack any more self-awareness?
The Best and the Brightest by Donald J Trump !
... I am sooooo tired of winning.... oh sorry I meant whining :(
2
It's pretty obvious that this administration has sunk to lows in the cesspool that we have not even uncovered yet. Seems like every day the news is filled with yet more corruption and greed stories.
2
Pruitt is disgusting. Unfortunately, he is representative of much of the GOP leadership in Oklahoma, double-speaking, craven, arrogant, self-righteous. It's all about him.
3
In other words, he's a perfect pick for this administration.
2
Pruitt is the poster boy for Trump's approach to governing. He's got a big mouth but he's essentially a coward. He can't defend his policies in a rational way so he makes sure that he never has to face someone with intelligent questions. He is filth and he wallows in filth. That's why Trump loves him.
4
Where's Congress? What are they being paid to do??
And (off topic-- but where do we get to comment) -- what's this newest nonsense about Goldman Sachs and the bitcoin?? polluting the money supply!!
When will these people learn that they will get old (if they are lucky) and most likely sick and will die.... then what will their ill deeds have gained for them??
(Maybe the whole thing could be done by robots.. who needs Pruitt in person at all.)
The are being paid an order of magnitude more by the Koch Club than they are by us.
Mr Pruitt is a contaminated individual who should never serve the public in any capacity. This sordid individual is the poster boy for the Trump Cabinet--which figures nicely.
God help the United States of America.
3
Scott Pruitt surrounds himself with security details and a "cone of silence" in his office. He and his entourage travel deluxe and on our dime. His policies will help cook the planet and ruin the lives of generations.
But Pruitt cannot stop there. Hiding meetings from the public and embedding softball questions is a new low. These emails detailing the efforts to keep citizens in the dark and fed a steady diet of horse-hockey are yet another plunge into the wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Trump appointed and the GOP Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt in an act of uncivil government. But Pruitt's not alone as a Cabinet-level political hack. We can add Ryan Zinke, Jeff Sessions, Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson, and Rick Perry to the list of officials who were unqualified for their positions and unworthy of public trust. That does not include the dearly departed Andrew Puzder, Tom Price, and Ronny Jackson. Now we get Gina Haspel to run the CIA—a recruiting poster child for extremists the world over.
We won't get to the bottom of the sleaze bucket, because it's a well fed by a sewer pipe.
1
Very much appreciate the reporting here. His behavior/s were mind-blowingly crazy. This narrative, that he is running away from accountability, helps us understand what could possibly be afoot, which is welcome light, on our shadows.
That said, this naturally only compounds his failings.
EPA was set up - by a Republican - to protect the environment, to keep our air & water unpolluted so.we.can.breathe & so.can.drink.unpolluted.water, simplistically speaking.
The EPA is not his fiefdom. It is not for Big Oil, Coal or Mining.
When do those now in power do what we pay them to do?
How much mud*-on-your-face is too much? *euphemism here
When does Congress decide it wants to be able to look itself in the mirror again?
2
To all of those who are surprised at this behavior: welcome to the Republican playbook. for governing. Any Democrat living in Texas and trying to get her/his voice heard is very familiar with this behavior. Our congressman, Michael McCaul, has not held a town hall in 9 years. Other Republican representatives also ignore their non-monied constituents. Ted Cruz keeps his fax machines turned off, as does McCaul, and answers every letter with a boilerplate note, designed to make it clear that opposing opinions are not welcome. McCaul instructs his staff not to receive visitors. He is regularly invited to town halls and never appears. We once held a town hall anyway, with a puppet sitting in the chair reserved for him, just so his aggrieved constituents could air their opposition to him somehow.
George Bush started this, back during the Iraq War, when millions opposed the war. He didn't want to hear any cricitism, so he just avoided going anywhere where he might be exposed to it.
This is nothing new in Republicanland. They evade, avoid, and lie to the people they are supposed to represent.
Why? So they can continue to pretend to themselves that they are doing the will of the people. Never hearing any criticism makes it much easier for them to convince themselves they are doing a good job.
Unfortunately, it is all a farce. They are doing the bidding of the wealthy, while lining their own pockets at the same time. That is why they went into politics in the first place.
4
Nobody who projects a human personality onto nature is even honest to themselves.
Why in your reporting do you refer to 'staffers' as if they are anonymous cogs and share no part in this farce. Tate Bennett who cc in the released emails before joining Pruitt’s ‘epa’ was a lobbyist for a coal power company and lobbied against emissions cutting. Not generally part of the ‘narrow definition of environmentalists’, people use. Another ‘staffer’ is Millan Hupp who since June 2017 has been the ‘epa’ director of 'Scheduling and Advance' was a hotel sales rep and worked at Eskimo Joes Restaurant. These people are the tools that make the Pruitt machine run. They should get the credit they deserve.
3
"All politicians are attuned to image-building, of course, and employ staffs whose job is to control the environments in which they appear." Excuse me, but Mr. Pruitt is not a politician. He's a public servant, head of an agency whose mission is ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION. If he doesn't want to carry out that mission or is afraid of the criticism he justly deserves for not carrying it out, he should step down. Everything he does and says in his official capacity is, or should be, a matter of public record. If he wants to operate in secret he should stop pretending to work for the public and join one of the polluting corporations that he really answers to.
1
Why am I not surprised? Trump drained the Swamp right into the White House . . .
As ProPublica reported: “At least 187 Trump political appointees have been federal lobbyists, and . . . many are now overseeing the industries they once lobbied on behalf of. We’ve also discovered ethics waivers that allow Trump staffers to work on subjects in which they have financial conflicts of interest.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/what-we-found-in-trump-administration...
Why would the general public be a threat to a Cabinet member? The head of the EPA for goodness sake? Was this a problem for Chrissy Whitman? For any other former EPA head? No. Could someone stop for a minute and ask "why do we need extra security protection for the head of the EPA?"
The answer is - because Pruitt, like Trump and all his fellow con men and grifters, are a threat to average Americans, and people know it.
And because people are fed up and they are right on the brink of taking matters into their own hands. Because nobody else will hold these monsters accountable.
Is there any member of the Trump "team" who is not a megalomaniac? Hopefully the press will continue to closely cover and investigate Pruitt, show the full extent of his corruption, and end his reign. Then you can work on Zinke, DeVos, Carson, Ross and the list goes on and on.
Check out the LinkedIn profile for the "scheduling director." So glad to know this is the caliber of people my tax dollars are paying for . . .
It is misleading to refer to the Clean Power Plan as intended to reduce global warming, and Pruitt's efforts to rewrite it took place before he was in charge of the EPA.
The law does not reduce CO2 production and was blocked from implementation by the federal courts because it violates the Clean Air Act.
Stop pretending that it exists. It represents the kind of regulatory overreach that tars Obama as a dictator and prevented the election of Hillary.
Tom Price must be relieved his ousting was swift and though frustrating,with little consequence. Because what's in store for Pruitt once he meets his downfall (and THAT he eventually will) will be something with an appreciable splat. Of all the ignoble Admin picks, Scott Pruitt is the least shameless and sometimes it's difficult to believe that most of this Administration are people from & of means, because they sure don't act like it and hard to say if some of them actually are with perhaps the few exceptions like DeVos still basking under Mummy & Daddy's legacy--Do correct me if I'm wrong on that front.
Between Pruitt & Trump,they've amassed a number of investigations, it's become a battle of who's more scandalous.
As a regular news consumer, I would have expected to hear about specific "threats" that Pruitt has used to justify all this secrecy and other hiding from the public. I have not. Does that mean that Pruitt hasn't come forward with any detailed evidence of such threats, that they are being investigated, have never been referred for investigation, or that the media I consume (like the Times) ignores such evidence?
(Pruitt deserves to be fired regardless of such evidence, as does his boss, for ignoring climate science.)
E.P.A. emails or not, at least now the public knows what that $43,000 soundproof phone booth was really for.
1
Pruitt's actions are similar to those with attributes that rhyme with Howard.
1
We have had people in the public sphere who successfully balanced our nations's needs to promote economic growth and protect the environment and our national heritage. Names like Roosevelt, Douglas, Ruckelshaus, Andrus and Udall are remembered favorably, and have seen landmarks dedicated in their memory. Meanwhile names like Watt, Gorsuch and Chenoweth are forgotten or recalled only ignominiously. Given that, what drives a person like Pruitt to serve as a tool of polluters, ignoring the public and the global ecosystem upon which we all depend?
11
This guy is a real winner, afraid of any criticism, He should man up and take it. While he is at it, he should breath in the polluted air he is creating and have a drink of the polluted water he is creating. He in charge of the Environmental PROTECTION Agency, not the Environmental Destruction Agency.
11
The barbarians have finally stormed the gates of our political institutions. Pruitt is just among the most visible of them. They're all feeding at a enormous trough of taxpayer wealth.
All of them should be strung up and then given a fair trial—afterwards.
16
Thanks Bob. I've been commenting that in the past the walls to the civilized world were attacked from the outside by the barbarians who set out take what was within for themselves but that now the barbarians attack from within the walls, with no less a destructive intent.
God's pet goldfish are really nothing but piranhas.
Teddy Roosevelt would weep uncontrollably if he knew that someone of Scott Pruitt's ilk would one day lead a federal agency established to protect the environment. Pruitt is a corrupt disaster, the enemy of clean air and water, and the worst that America has to offer.
21
"Pruitt’s events is driven more by a desire to avoid tough questions from the public"
Tough questions? It is more likely he is not giving the lunatic left a platform on which to make insane accusations based on blatant lies ie 'global warming'.
1
The real George Orwell invented a term for comments like this: Newspeak.
2
Right. All those lunatic left wing Iowa ranchers. The man is a coward.
4
One of the "tough questions " might be why he directed his staff to find reasons for him to travel to places he wanted to visit, even if the EPA had no connection with that country (think Morocco). Another might be why he thought it appropriate to use lights and sirens when going to dinner.
And these have nothing to do with the rules on safe drinking water and clean air, opposed by sections of industry, that affect us and our future generations. I do not understand why he wants to sacrifice his own family to the whims of the energy sector. Or is he too rich to think it might possibly affect him?
Yes, global warming is real. Too much real evidence exists.
30
i am speechless with incandescent rage
10
i watched “Hang’em High” recently. The problem is there is not enough law in Oklahoma territory, but the marshal is still chasing villains and may get him yet.
Even if our elected officials remove Pruitt, his damage to the planet remains. Please remember this as you vote this year and forever.
7
If you look up "grifter" in the dictionary, it should include a picture of Scott Pruitt. The swamp being created at the Environmental Protection Agency, now headed by an administrator who opposes environmental protection, is the quintessential example of Washington corruption in the age of Trump. Sad.
17
Welcome to donald’s Petting Zoo.
These animals bite.
9
We used to find "Banana Republics" amusing, but with this administration the laugh is on us, the U.S. has become the largest one.
6
Not only has the swamp grown bigger, it is also starting to smell.
7
With people like this in and around our government, who needs to worry about Russians? Our country has already hit bottom.
9
The Russians want to see the US shatter just like the USSR. Their boy Trump is the best man to do it for them in the whole US.
"I only get the best people"
6
This is the very definition of "the swamp:" A crony capitalist using his government post to do favors for other crony capitalists.
Why do Trump supporters think that filling the swamp with correlate lobbyists and the billionaires that hire then was going to fix anything?
Why are Democrats still voting for Trump appointees?
78
You don't know nor understand the biological ecological nature of a swamp. After coral reefs and tropical rain forests, swamps are among the most diverse and critical habitats on Earth. Draining swamps damages that diversity and stability. Scientific ignorance is rampant in law and politics.
1
I think it's the current administration that doesn't understand the importance of swamplands to the ecosystem. Why would they? They don't understand hardly anything about the environment, and they care even less. SAD!
What makes you think any Democrats are voting for tRump appointees?
Further evidence that we, unfortunately, have a corrupt government, administration and Republican congress. They only remedy is to VOTE REPUBLICANS OUT!
5
He should resign, period.
6
Pruitt's public appearances are sort of like the Lone Ranger appearing in community after community aiding the local Don Blankenship. Townspeople comment as he drives away into the sunset, "This is great. I can hardly wait until the air stinks & they bring in that designer labeled bottled water!"
No Tonto accompaniment this time around. He's too busy weeping at the base of the mountaintop removal site.
When everyone is wearing gas masks, how will Trump know which one is Scott Pruitt, so he can pin on the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
3
This is "draining the swamp?" Not a peep of outrage from Trump supporters over Pruitt wallowing deep in the bog. Trump supporters are a curious breed and Trump got it right when he said "I could murder someone on 5th ave. and my supporters would stay with me." Brainwashed people shouldn't be allowed to vote.
3
He will leave his dirty footprints on our environment, but not forever. Someone decent will take his place and we don’t have to call that person honorable either.
1
Wow! The spin this agency puts on is staggering. The E in EPA stands for Environmental, not Emperor!
3
Day by day the reality of this guy keeps oozing out, like toxic slime. Day by day we keep howling on news sites. But he’s still there, along with the rest of his icky colleagues.
2
"Mr. Chmielewski said, adding that Mr. Pruitt “just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a public figure.”
Oh- yes. Mr. Pruitt certainly does "understand" what it's like....he was, after all, Oklahoma's elected Attorney General. But...I digress.
Apparently this is how Oklahoma public figures behave or at least, this is how the citizens of one of the poorer states of the union- allowed their Public Servants [sic] to behave.
1
I sometimes think Pruitt is more dangerous than Trump.
4
That Scott Pruitt acts like a prima donna wimpy baby is not objectionable. Many private-sector bigwigs must exhibit similarly narcissistic and buffoonish behavior. That he does so on the public dime is an outrage and an insult to all decent hardworking Americans. There is something wrong with him, morally, mentally, or both. He doesn't understand, or doesn't care, that his behavior is inappropriate and offensive. After The Donald himself, he is the best symbol for everything that is wrong with the Trump administration. I hope he gets forced out soon.
5
I’m not sure how this man made himself into office of any sort (certainly not mine). Please just get rid of the governmental swamp. There seems to me to me to be more gators than ever.
1
'his activities as a public servant.'
He's not a public servant, he's a big business servant..Personally I think Pruitt is a sociopath, there can be no other explanation.
7
Pruitt’s seemingly congenital habits of personal and professional corruption are amazing to witness. The man’s greed and sense of personal entitlement are so deeply ingrained in his character that he seems to have been born that way.
While his petty thievery, crackpot secrecy and certainly illegal treatment of his staff are appalling, we must recognize the true evil of this man. He is literally destroying our environmental regulations in service to his buddies in the energy business. He is literally destroying the EPA itself. On purpose.
2
Oklahoma is a disaster environmentally and fiscally. No Republican from that state should be anywhere near a federal office.
7
This is really sickening. and the last line from Ms. Hupp, just sort of says it all. Who are these people and why are they in any positions of power? The corruption is so deep with Pruitt, yet he's still in office. Almost any one of the facts stated in this article about how he's running EPA, should have cost him his job. What more need to happen to get rid of this creature?
1
I can't seem to summon adequate words of opprobrium for this contemptible creature, probably because his actions are sickening, close to rage-inducing. Pruitt has no respect for democracy, the people of this nation who employ him, the truth, or the important principles that founded the agency he has trampled over in jackboots.
If there were any justice, after he's removed in some hoped-for ignominious way, the public ought to be able to claw back every penny that this reptile was paid during his misadministration. Every. Penny. He spent not one instant working for the benefit of anyone but polluting industries and himself.
1
Yes, he is a crook and a coward and the ultimate swamp creature, fleecing the American people of their tax dollars. But the worst, the very worst about Scott Pruitt is his single-minded mission to destroy the modest advances we have made under Obama to try and stem global warming. Not to mention, to let polluters pollute air and water again, as if things weren't awful enough WITH Obama's regulations. But curiously, this aspect of Pruitt's malice rarely comes up in these comments. Instead people get exercised over the corruption and the waste of money. It's discouraging, to say the least.
120
Obama regulations do not and never would have reduced CO2 production. That was a fiction. Neither did they improve health because they rely upon the non scientific linear no threshold model. It is driving the eco-radicals insane to have had scientific principles returned to the evaluation of science in establishing public policy.
The people who are complaining about Pruitt's changes to the EPA have never read any of the regulations they adore that he is rolling back, with the support of Congress and the president.
Well there was the recent one rolled back that would now allow toxic mine tailings to be dumped into the water supply. There also the matter of trying to restrict California's ability to set emission standards. Those are just the first two to pop into my head. And BTW I've yet to see any evidence that rolling back regulations saves anyone's job.
Costs a lot to maintain that fragile right wing bubble.
The Scott Pruitt Environment(al) Protection Agency has done and continues to do an excellent job under difficult and challenging conditions, given the huge task of ensuring Mr Pruitt's Environment is protected at all times , to the best of the Agencies abilities to ensure that it's Administrator is protected from unfriendly forces, wrong questions suggesting he is not doing a good job, accusations of failing to protect the environment (His) and so much more regarding Pruitt's standing, abilities, efforts, aspirations and hopes immediately and directed to his environment and the ongoing effort to improve and most importantly protect it.
We can only hope that Pruitt's deep and committed efforts to protect his Environment are successful and achieve the very important goals so close to his heart and being, so that when he leaves the Agency he would have left his mark by the fact that his environment was better protected, safer and had achieved all its intended actions of a stronger, more powerful EPA having used its full mandate and capacities to ensure its Administrators Environment was never better protected from the challenges faced by so many and much adversity that seeks to weaken it's standing and threaten the security and survival of an Environment so valued and so close to the inspiring Administrator who came in and left his mandate, actions and policies , stronger, least likely to be challenged and never changed again.
5
Nice irony, but you were too subtle! Pruitt's work protecting wealthy polluters and employers who don't care about the safety of their workers will live on in infamy. He seems to think the earth doesn't run by its own immutable laws.
3
What is secretive about environmental protection? Nothing, unless you're the fox in the henhouse and your goal is to destroy the environment you swore to protect in order to further enrich your buddies. This is not the CIA, it is the EPA. There should be no secrets.
20
Even though Mr. Pruitt report’s to the Koch Brothers, his salary is paid by American Taxpayers. As any government employee will tell you that means you have to deal with both the “friendly” and “unfriendly” citizens.
12
Every last Trump appointee is a stooge with conflicted interests. Putin picked the perfect guy to shatter the whole US.
3
Scott Pruitt needs to resign. No public office should ever have to stand his overt corruption. That said, just keep hammering away at the EPA for information. They're paid with tax dollars and few activities can hide behind national security concerns. The information belongs to the US public. I would literally bury Pruitt's office in information request for no other reason than spite. We should try carpet bombing the phone lines of every representative who interacts with Pruitt as well. Make sure to ask for written responses. They are legally obligated to supply one upon request. If you really want to be cruel, only supply a mailing address. If we make Pruitt a big enough headache for enough people, his support in Congress will evaporate.
9
Where were your concerns for the decades of secret research and refusal to explain the science backing regulations before Pruitt.
The NYT and leftists are now howling at the expectation that studies must make their data and analysis public before public policy be based on the science.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Pruitt, rhymes with suet. Appropriate I'd say.
DD
Manhattan
Somebody like Pruitt does not deserve to be head of the E.P.A.! In the Trump administration, he should soon be promoted to Secretary of State the next time the position again becomes open.
4
I’m not sure Scotty is aware of what his portfolio is. The environment he is helping destroy through deregulation is in his backyard. There really is no reason to spend fuel jetting around the world doing God knows what. Relaxing I guess. The guy is such an enigmatic placement in an agency that should have a very high priority.
2
Pruitt is owned by Hamm & the Koch brothers. He does whatever they tell him to do to accomplish their agenda of less regulation & increased profits. This secrecy is a hallmark of their dark-money groups funded by fellow billionaires. They must be eliminated from our government but the GOP will not do it.
4
It's interesting to show Pruitt facing a photograph of Yosemite. One wonders if he isn't picturing it razed to the ground, decimated by some kind of mining or drilling for big business.
3
Well they don't seem to be working. Pruitt needs to go, resign or trump needs to say your fired. Why does he think he deserves all the extra perks that are costing the tax payers, when previous EPA heads stayed within there budgets for traveling. If I were in an airport and he was standing next to me in line for screening, or seating next to me on the plane I wouldn't have a clue to who he is. I am fairly sure I wouldn't care much if I did know who he was. He seems to think a lot of himself, ok just like his boss does. I see a pattern here.
After reading some of the documents that revealed the sheer number of staff members for a simple visit (like to Indiana.) I think it's ridiculous to have such an "entourage" for a few simple meetings. That wasteful use of resources is probably endemic in our administration.
Why can't he travel with one staffer and call it good?
This article has convinced me that I must renew my membership in the Serra Club. For financial reasons I had let it expire, but no longer.
Behold emperor pruitt, feeding at the public trough, lording it over all who come before him, hiding from all who might disagree with him; all the while catering to the industries he is supposed to be regulating, and setting environmental protections back decades. The ultimate swamp creature.
3
The time for Scott Pruitt's resignation or firing is now. There are too many instances of Pruitt's failure to direct the EPA to protect our environment and too many instances of his doing whatever he pleases with no regard for the mandate of the agency of which he is supposed to be the leader. Time to replace this self-serving over-inflated ego with someone really concerned about protecting our environment rather than his own and his cronies' self interests.
1
It seems that what Pruitt is alleged to have done isn't evidence of real wrongdoing. It looks more like wariness about being in the cross-hairs of those who hate his agenda. Yes, Pruitt looks acutely wary. But wouldn't you be wary if you were in his shoes, taking unpopular positions as viewed in the quarters populated by super-fierce partisans? Can't say I blame him for being wary.
Trump said he´d hire "top, top people" and would fill his administration "with only the best and most serious people."
Serious people, serious trouble.
2
Mr. Pruitt's secret real estate deal with a lobbyist is as clearly corrupt as what convicted Shelly Silver (who then had the case overturned by a supreme court decision and is now being retried).
Unfortunately for the public there's a 7-year statute of limitations on the relevant federal crimes, and it has expired.
Still, any decent President would force his resignation, or any decent Congress would impeach him, for these corrupt and clandestine deals that made him money, and where it is clearly demonstrable he delivered what the lobbyist wanted.
2
I read this article and realized that my level of outrage wasn’t nearly as high as it should have been. Why, I wondered? Not because Scott Pruitt isn’t unfit to run the EPA for so many reasons but for me, most importantly, because he believes he’s above the very people he serves! I realized that day after day and week after week I read about people in Washington who čame with Trump or have given in to Trump to the point of disgrace. Steve Mnuchin, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Betsy DeVos, Ben Carson...the list goes on....
1
A priori division of audiences into "friendly" and "unfriendly"; fake and orchestrated public events, the contents of which are pushed, after the event, as public fact and news; and to top it all off, Pruitt's sheer venality and smug cynicism for public service and the very job he is appointed to do. Actually, his example puts the entire Trump administration into stark, crystalline relief. He's the poster child for the oligarchy of corporate self-interest--or the wannabe power monger, in his case---if their ever was one. Time to return to reason and decency.
If Pruitt weren't such an environmental toxin, his public persona might gain him sympathy because it seems pretty pathetic.
But his tenure is toxic, his policies will increase rates of disease and mortality. If he isn't sure how to be a public figure, he's light years away from understanding the most basic expectations of public service. His irresponsibility makes clowns like James Watt seem downright harmless. If our country survives the Trump era mostly in tact, we will face years of cleaning up messes, many of them launched by Pruitt as favors to his industry supporters in some delusional quest to pursue elected political office.
Mr. Pruitt is doing a swell job with our enviornment. He has struck the perfect balance between promoting our economy and protecting our natural resources. The days of protecting the spotted owl and laying off thousands of American workers who need to feed their family are over. That was on the ballot. Trump called global warming a Chinese hoax. Remember? America voted. Trump won. Get over it.
2
What balance? I don't think you understand the concept of balance. The word you are looking for in fact world is lopsided.
As in "Mr. Pruitt is doing a swell job for our businesses. He has struck a lopsided stance promoting our economy by using our natural resources."
In alternate facts world balance may mean lopsided but not here. Not yet.
Pruitt must resign now. If not, let's vote in folks in November who will hold his feet to the fire.
The level of corruption in the Trump administration is off the charts. It reflects the greed our our current President.
1
Our taxes pay for his excessive corruption, his lying, his collusion with lobbyists and corporations/ utilities etc. Not allowing the press to attend town halls is a sign of fear that his ‘get what you can’ practice will be revealed. This evil man needs to be fired. The environment will be destroyed with his illegal and unethical behaviors. He needs to be removed from the EPA.
EPA has not historically been all that high profile. Pruitt, however, is challenging the status quo and assumed need for more and more regulation so it’s not surprising that his operating procedures need to be kept much more tightly controlled. It makes perfect sense to avoid giving a platform to people like those pink women or radical activist nut jobs to cause a raucous if that can be avoided.
Trump's claim to run the most transparent presidency ever is over and done. The booth of silence is the very symbol of that. To borrow from Carl Hiassen's description of the Florida EPA, our national EPA is now an alibi factory for polluters
6
If he doesn't like the way the people are reacting to him, he should look at his job, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY and do it!
15
Maybe Pruitt will rename it to Environmental Pollution Agency
In Vonnegut's futuristic Fahrenheit 451, the Fire Department rushes around starting fires (to burn books). It fascinated some to learn that they originally put out fires.
I wonder if in the future, people will be fascinated to learn that the EPA used to protect the environment. Dystopia is now.
97
Ray Bradbury
22
One of my favorites! In Bradbury's story, books are burned infrequently because people rarely read them. When people are not distracted by sports and dramas ("The Family") shown on the giant "wall" TV screens, or constantly listening to their "seashells" (earbuds), they are taking pills. Overdoses are so common that "technicians" come to houses to pump out their stomachs and change their blood. People vote for presidents based on their appearance and the sound of their names, and the country is fighting wars about which the public knows very little.
It was published 65 years ago.
6
Thank you Michael -- I would've sworn Vonnegut, but you're absolutely right.
Outrageous and sleazy - a perfect Trump appointee.
79
Did someone tell Mr. Pruitt that "reversing all of Obama's deeds" means to promise that raw sewage be in every front lawn, tap water be murky and air guaranteed to emit toxins? It appears that all departments under trump are designed to destroy the purpose -- that government of, by and for the people means to free up the Klan, make weapons of war available to those with the money to buy them and restore a white majority. Aobve all, separate immigrant families and make truly native Americans appear like the foreigners.
Our response much be to love all those trying to hurt our country, but peacefully remove them from public life -- and to do so by the ballot and by due and fair process of law. Neither they (Trump appointees and henchmen) now I am exempt from the law. God will bless us if we proceed lawfully and from truth and charity!
2
Pruitt's next vacation should be to one of Putin's summer resort dachas on the Black Sea...then we will never hear from him again...Thanks to Bad Vlad...
18
His next vacation at government expense should be in one of the federal penitentiaries where he can rest in solitary confinement contemplating where he made the wrong turn to become such an evil individual.
The EPA administrator is duty bound to serve the interests of all Americans. What a perversion of his role and obligations for him to divide citizens and groups into “friendly” and “unfriendly”. and only advance policies favorable to friendly (read “anti-environment, anti-science, pro-exploitation”) factions. The more his personal misdeeds and toxic policies are revealed the more people he alienates into the unfriendly camp. His actions have turned him into a paranoid figure terrified to face the people he is inflicting damage upon. His last refuge against the public outcry may be the soundproof booth he had built in his office.
80
I would also propose his deeds have permanently stamped him a pariah. May his future be filled with poverty and an old clunker car and a shack in which to place what's left of his possessions. Prison would be better but this appears to be sanctioned criminality.
1
It's bad enough that we have a public servant who advocates for the interests of a chosen few and avoids accountability, but Mr. Pruitt's personal greed and venality--while sitting in an office that is supposed to promote the well-being of the people--well, that just puts things squarely through the looking-glass.
114
Keep up the great reporting. The less time this person has as the
, the better we all are.
43
So EPA stands for Employment Protection Agency, and Trump voters don't care if their kids are exposed to excess mercury levels from burning coal, etc etc. Yes I know there are smokestack scrubbers on some generating plants, but not all, and mercury levels in fish are still rising, mostly from burning coal. I guess the Trump voters don't remember when Lake Erie caught fire, or how many "stay inside" days there were in LA in the early 1970's or in Peking today. My fellow citizens, we will reap what we sow. Good luck to your grandkids...
86
At what point does this behavior step over the line, deceiving the public that pays him and a staff that shields him.
He took an oath to be the head of environmental protection and he clearly needs protecting while breaking that oath.
I know one of the areas my close conservative friends have with me is a special connection to the environment it belongs to our grandchildren, we agree it can be protected while building a strong economy.
Mr. Pruitt and his polluting thugs must go.
56
Pruitt isn't the only politician doing this. Our representative, David Schweikert, hasn't even had the courage to hold a town hall in almost a year. Chickens all of them.
55
Add Fred Upton to that list, R-Michigan. My fear is adding to the debt with retirment packages for all these elected officials leaving the sinking ship.
3
Trump himself hasn't held a formal press conference since January 2017, the one where he ended up just yelling at everyone.
2
Paul Ryan even called the cops on the attendees at one of his town halls and then never had one again. The hubris of our Congress should infuriate the entire electorate into throwing all these greedy, power grubbing pigs out.
4
Pruitt is lobbyist for coal, oil, gas energy companies and whoever else is willing to buy access and influence; why must we taxpayers have to pay for him to weaken the laws that protect us? What a shill!
85
Even in a Cabinet that excels only in venality and mediocrity, Pruitt stands out. Trump's presidency will have little enduring legacy of achievement, only one of dismemberment and corruption. Pruitt has been checked in the worst of his degradations by the suits engendered by his policies, and the bureaucratic inertia that slows his attempts to take away the environmental protections we've put in place over the last two generations. But if anything endures of Trump's presidency, the environmental damages done with Pruitt's encouragement will be significant, along with the debts built up by Trump's "tax reform". Surely Republicans will want to have a different legacy than 'Our last president boosted climate change, polluted lakes and streams, opened protected lands to mining and drilling, and took environmental protections back 50 years'. Pruitt embodies the "privatize the profits, socialize the costs, and pass the burdens on to future generations" mentality of Trump's "I got mine!" Republican party. I can barely wait for November.
61
We already learned that the Inspector General ruled that the purchase of the golden phone booth violated laws. I must have missed it -- what were the consequences?
82
I can only assume the money will be paid back out of the Stormy Daniels Slush Fund by Cohen.
I have been calling my representative and Trey Gowdy, (chair of Oversight) once or twice a week for more than a month about Pruitt. This administration cannot be allowed to practice open corruption. We can't let it become merely white noise. Call. Write. And keep it up.
135
Oh but months and months and months of investigations into Benghazi and Hillary's emails, without one charge ever and this under Republican efforts to bring her down all the way. "Lock them up."
Great post, we are not helpless in the face of corruption and venality...and just plain stupidity! Like many, many others I believe November cannot get here quickly enough. In the meantime, we can call, write and email our representatives, Senators and any other politician we think may listen. I frequently send "attaboys" (or girls) to politicians, bureacrats, anyone in a leadership position regardless of political affiliation, who has advanced some preogressive cause. Support is as important as criticism these days
1
It wouldn’t surprise me if Pruitt opened up the various divisions of the EPA to named entities. You know, the Massey Energy Office of Water, the Dow Chemical Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the EnergySolutions Office of Air and Radiation, the Chesapeake Energy Office of Administration and Resources Management. But why stop there? The Big Kahuna is the Exxon Environmental Protection Agency. One that won’t be on the naming list is the Office of Research and Development; it’s scheduled for closure.
75
Hmm. He's already done that. Google Senator - Jim Inhofe, and then check his list of prior staff that now works for EPA.. EPA has been subject to one of the worst hostile take overs of a Government regulator agency ever --- EPA is being Fracked from within. Enjoy the clean water and air while it lasts.
Over the course of three decades and a few hundred "CoDels" (Congressional Delegations to US Embassies and Consulates abroad), I learned the difference between those member of Congress who came to work and/or to learn and those whose only concern was either (1) self promotion or (2) shopping. Serving in the Middle East, for example, I supported many CoDels who were there only so that they could claim to have "seen" the war zone first hand. (None of them really did.) Elsewhere, from Asia (Korea) to Europe (Poland), CoDels came for the shopping, sometimes arriving on over-sized US Air Force jets so that they had sufficient cargo capacity to carry their (tax free, never inspected at Andrews AFB) purchases back to the USA.
That's why I recognize the Pruitt archetype. He is both the shopper and the "claim I was there" member of Congress who has now brought all of those "it's all about me" attitudes with him to the EPA.
89
It's not just the corruption that irks, but the sheer pettiness of it. There is as well a delusional dimension to Pruitt in the huge motorcades, the expensive dinners--as if he wants to pretend to be more significant than the lapdog for energy industries that he really is.
153
I agree: there is a beta-male quality to Pruitt's actions. Ben Carson has has the same vibe.
17
What Trump and his appointees don't seem to understand is that they won't always be there, and the opposition will someday soon be in control. The biggest difference will be that when the opposition takes control it will have the backing of a full majority of Americans. There will be damage to undo, but Scott Pruitt and company better enjoy it while they can. It will not last.
54
Trump's judicial appointees are going to be a serious problem for decades.
1
Yes, but if we elect a bunch of centrist Democrats, they won't push back in the other direction. They will try to remain unnoticed for as long a possible in the vain hope they won't lose the next election.
Then they will lose the next election, just like the Blue Dog Democrats elected with Obama, and the Republicans will pass more tax cuts for the rich and dismantle more institutions of our Republic.
The combination of Republican aggression and Democratic passivity has been moving government policy ever further to the right. It is like a ratchet, only working in one direction.
But on social policy Americans are split down the middle, and on economic policy we lean to the left.
Winning elections without affecting policy is useless. When you win election then don't even try to move policy to the left,, you don't win the next election.
The point of getting elected, is to get an opportunity to lead. Leadership requires strongly advocating for smart policies so that you can take the political climate.
Politics is the art of making things possible. That is what Trump is doing, making bad things possible.
Democrats need to make good things possible both because we need good things and because goods things get you re-elected.
Thank you NYTs for providing this information.Everyone needs to get out the vote this November.What this man is doing to our environment is heartbreaking!
104
Democrats need to start advocating for actual policies, so that people have a reason to come out and vote, or else we will have nothing but a bunch of centrist Democrats whining that no one votes for them again.
Heartbreaking and criminal....
4
Is this a joke? If I hadnt been aware of this guy’s agrenda from the time he was appointed I would think so. I can fully understand differing policy perspectives across political parties but these types of money grabs (and know thats all this is) have no place and at many levels appear to be criminal.
63
Pruitt’s controlling the conversation is exactly what Putin does to control the message and stifle dissent.
75
Trump is a life long real estate developer, think about that folks. Show me an honest one. They buy and sell influence. That’s what they do. How many laws has he broken? How many laws are there, subtract two, that’s your answer.
Regulations are designed to protect the poor from the wealthy, nothing more, nothing less. He, being the wealthy, has been hounded by them all of his privileged life. He boasts about dismantling them. Pruitt is much better at it than he is. He cares nothing about proper governance, he doesn’t know what that means. He will do whatever he can get away with. You will not shame this guy, the only hope to remove either of them is indictments, and that’s only a start.
50
Pruitt is going to continue with his sleazy unethical behavior for as long as he is EPA director. The man is incapable of changing his behavior. Think of him as “Trump lite.”
As long as the Republicans let him remain they are showing their utter hypocracy. With one face they brag about honor, honesty and ethics and with the other face they are liars, dishonest and unethical. That is their game. Do whatever it takes - lie, cheat, slander, embezzle, take bribes- as long as they achieve their goals.
49
Scott Pruitt not only destroys the environment but, after enriching himself taking advantage of his position gets even a government salary (our money!) for his wicked deeds. I feel foolish.
39
"Foolish"? Feel mad, feel enlightened, feel informed. But not foolish. Be proactive how your taxes are spent.
I certainly don’t disagree with any of the comments posted here, but we are preaching to the choir.
But what concrete actions are we taking to help counter people like Pruitt, let alone Trump, in the coming days and months?
I’ve been trying to answer that for myself these days and it’s obvious to me that I need to find a way to become active. I’m still searching, though.
Any concrete suggestions for this introvert are most welcome. Thank you.
37
Ink. Paper. Stamp.
Write your congressperson.
We all feel helpless, but a handwritten letter gets more attention than an email.
33
Vote.
1
Encourage everyone you know to think for themselves & not follow a political party or media. The most important thing is to take part & vote.
1
I can't believe Pruitt only became such a corrupt man when he arrived in Washington. Is anyone looking into what he was doing as Oklahoma's attorney general?
30
Check out the articles about him buying a lobbyist’s house in Oklahoma for $100k under market value while he was Oklahoma’s AG.
Pruitt’s got stuff on Trump. Otherwise Trump would have given him the axe.
16
Marvy to know that this is how my tax dollars are put to work!
18
After reading this article it seems like the “honorable” Scotty Pruitt’s least favorite song should be, “What a Friend we Have in Jesus.” Jesus requires his friends to be transparent, accountable, humble and honest.
11
Pruitt knows that if he is on the spot to answer important questions, he will be in deep trouble with the majority of people who care about this planet. Thus the secrecy--to hide his dirty deeds.
22
Agree with below comments ... he is so GRANDIOSE that he believes that he is entitled to the security detail, “cone of silence”, first class seats/private flights, commemorative coin, has religious and anti-science delusions, enriching deals with energy industries ... AND he has no interest whatsoever in improving the environment ...
22
The first class seat is the least of it... SMOKE.. now private flights paid for by the taxpayer is something else.
BTW someone asked what the American consumer/
taxpayer can do... I would suggest consume less -- less energy, less food, throw out less.... support tariffs on stuff coming in and going out. (Let the producer pay the tax... which will raise the price...)
Why should the US cut down old growth forests for wood for Japan, grow soybeans/cows for who knows whom, ship Canadian sand oil from US ports?
Also live densely, use public transit. Anything to stop paving over open land. (So glad LA has decided to suspend construction of freeways.)
1
"For example, at the Nevada, Iowa, event for ranchers ... to celebrate Mr. Pruitt’s plans to repeal an Obama-era water regulation that many ranchers dislike"
As a native of Iowa it is incomprehensible - some of the worst groundwater in the nation... http://www.ehn.org/water-pollution-hog-farming-2504466831.html
30
With all the $$$ shelled out for him and his travel, phone booths, etc., maybe it's assumed the EPA has been taken private. No (not yet).
15
What is it about the "public" in public servant that these people not understand. These people are accountable to us not the other way around. Pruitt is not royalty living in some monarchy immune from accountability. This man and his staff are a disgrace to our democracy as is his boss. Time to clean house.
31
Mr.Pruitt is not fearful because of threats, he is afraid of free speech!He, like others in the Trump orbit do not honor the Constitution and should not be in government.He is obviously establishing a lucrative fiefdom in the guise of overseeing the EPA.His shabby leadership should be a concern to all because we cannot undo the damage he is allowing to further degrade the environment.
27
Personally, I am charmed by the Hupp sisters and their youthful enthusiasm for ethically questionable behavior. So, yay! they have bright futures in the GOP.
11
Please tell me there are watchers tracking Mr. P. to events!
8
Incompetent, corrupt, greedy, self-serving, ignorant and slimy. This guy was BORN to serve in the Trump administration.
44
You forgot:. Must be an inveterate liar!
CROOKED SCOTTY, go home!
Oklahoma can have you...they put up with your crooked ways for so long, they deserve to have you back in the "shake and quake" capital of fracking...
28
Mr Priuitts behavior, his self-serving and arrogant behavior is well documented. But for me, how can a minister, being in charge for the protection of the environment, is able to dismantle everything that this institution stands for.
12
Control the message = propaganda. Paul Joseph Goebbels would be proud to see Scott Pruitt using his proven methods.
20
Friend or foe depends on the dollar amount your worldview. Extract resources and not have to deal with any consequences? Friend. Ask a question about environmental policy? Foe. We all know Trump voters read these comments and articles and wonder if they are as lock step as their industry representatives (i mean govt officials)
6
Surprised a California's 'a-min' grower's photo shows up in this article. They have done a magnificent job of covering up their gluttonous water use, as well as the fact that they export 75% of their crop to Asian markets.
They pepper the airwaves, notably NPR, with self-serving nonsense that suggests that their practices and their crop are environmentally friendly. neither is true, such that the growers use the lion's share of the water that belongs to all Californians to produce their condiment. Then they sponsor massive billboards on the main N-S Interstate with malarkey like "Food grows where water flows." Technically true, but consciously misleading.
I do not know who their PR firm is - but they are doing the best amoral work since cigarettes.
8
Oh my dog – is this supposed to be an argument in defence of Pruitt, or just staple Trumpian deflection?
I wrote a Ph.D. Dissertation of on the topic of Environmental Ethics. In the final Chapter I outlined the set of Norms that "We The People" VOTED into Law in the 60's called "The National Environmental PROTECTION Act" or NEPA. These are the set of 6 Norms or Principals that outline our responsibilities to the Natural World. NEPA is the Law. On NPR, two months ago, a Trump administrator from the EPA discussed NEPA and called it "The National Environmental POLICY Act". Was he ignorant or was he dissembling? I think the latter; and I think it was intentional. EPA under Pruitt does not think we HAVE any obligations to Nature or even future generations. The title of my work is "The Theoretical Foundations for an Environmental Ethic". Google it. Start complaining about this ruse and it's disastrous effects. Cause an UPROAR about the way they are breaking the LAW!
13
"NEPA" is, in fact, stand for "the National Environmental Policy Act". https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-national-environmental-poli...
Then you would be interested in this Independent Lens story.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/what-lies-upstream/
Imagine if Scott Pruitt had spent all this time, effort and money protecting the environment instead of safeguarding himself. If he had done the reverse, however, Trump would have bounced him out long ago. The way it is now, Pruitt is the president's poster boy for how to run a federal department (into the ground) and win your way into the president's cruddy little heart.
14
It's very clear that he doesn't even care about his grandchildren, he want's to leave them a polluted planet, with unbreathable air, undrinkable water, a barren planet. But hey, you'll be able to buy an iPhone. One has to wonder, how this selfish man has made it this far in life. He's the kid that got beat up and his milk money taken, so this is how he get's even with his childhood torturers.
What's with all the secrecy and public relations spins? The truth needs no spin, and I don't like paying for secret meetings. This has got to stop.
12
Since these are closed to the public, they are political events. I'm sure the Koch Brothers will reimburse the government. Just typical Trump Administration. Criminal charges against Oklahoma's Attorney General should be forthcoming.
8
A public servant who's proud of his actions would want everyone to know what he's doing. Shutting out the press is tantamount to an admission of guilt.
18
"Pruitt is the GOP's model citizen. He is exactly what government would devolve into if the Republicans achieve total control. Blankenship would be endorsed, too, except that the Democratic minority is just large enough to defeat him."
Actually, Republicans do already have "total control" and Pruitt is, in fact, what government has devolved into. He is the poster boy.
Meanwhile, don't go dis-counting the possibility of GOP support for Blankenship. The president's non-endorsement could quickly devolve into an outright cheer if the West Virginia environmental convict manages to win Tuesday's GOP primary. Trump opposed Roy Moore, too, in the Alabama Senate primary, until his own candidate lost. After Moore won, and even though he became tagged as a child molester, Trump backed him all the way to his loss to the Democrat challenger.
7
I have a very ominous feeling that he is going to need a large security detail for the rest of his life. I'm sure there are many who are very angry about his destruction of the work and money that was committed over the past 50 years of heightened awareness of the effects of humans on the Earth.
I can understand why he is paranoid about his personal safety.
6
Since Pruitt’s swamp if fully constructed already, it does not matter if he is ousted or not. He has gutted or marginalized the EPA of the very people needed perform its mission.
6
The primary people who are needed to perform the EPA's mission are the EPA's career employees. While they may be marginalized at the moment, these career staff are extremely capable and committed to the mission of the Agency, and most of them are not going anywhere -- unless they are fired. Lucky for us, most of them will be there long after Pruitt has moved on.
4
Over 200 scientists have left the EPA....that type of talent and experience will not be replaced.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/climate/epa-buyouts-pruitt.html
Pruitt essentially removed scientists from with the advisory board and also has taken authority away from regional districts to enforce the clean water act.
He is eliminating the scientists and the science essentially. The damage will be long term since the environment is so easy to destroy and so difficult to repair.
2
Pure and simple State censorship and propaganda, which are antithetical to a free and democratic society.
Trump is trying to rewrite the social contract. Constitutional constraints do not apply to those in executive power, and the constitutional liberties guaranteed to the masses can be yanked if the masses oppose Trump's henchmen.
In essence, Trump wants a quasi anarchistic executive branch of government that he completely controls notwithstanding any duty of his bureaucrats to obey a constitutional oath.
When his bureaucrats act in furtherance of an oath of office, they are maligned as the "deep state" instead of patriots. Then Trump attempts to coerce and suppress a free press and retaliate against both the legislative and judicial branch of governments when those organs of government exercise the right of checks and balances against the executive branch.
The only exception to the above is when Nunes conspires with Trump to obstruct justice - at which point obstruction is "checks and balances."
10
Trump's deep state doesn't exist since the deep state he talks about is the government. So all he's trying to do is replace the existing deep state, with his own deep state. He's draining the swamp of the known swamp creatures, and replacing them with his sons, and other swap creatures that don't deserve to be where they are. There will be a price to pay, and the GOP knows it, thus the sudden "retirement" of many GOPers. They would rather quit, than face the humiliation of being voted out, they would rather quit, white asserting that what they did was a good thing. But they know it isn't and the world that they will leave their children and grandchildren (since most of congress is made up of old white men, and now old white women) they willingly poison their own.
It is the worst kind of villainy to take a government job that has a directive to protect the environment and do exactly the opposite. He adds insult to injury by soaking the people paying him in order to hide what he's doing! He isn't even trying to pretend that he works for anybody but industry lobbyists.
It's as if I went to a doctor for a routine procedure and he removed one of my kidneys instead, sold it for $10,000 and then charged me for the procedure he didn't do plus the extra cost of marketing and transporting my kidney in first class.
11
Soon: All cabinet secretaries and the president will invite only friendly coverage so that only the elite are informed as to what their government is doing.
4
This is what a responsible, knowledgeable, caring, earnest EPA Director should sound like. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for the honor bestowed on me by our president. I will do my utmost to show you I deserve this esteemed position. I will go to the areas of this country who are currently in trouble . Anywhere our great land is in difficulty with clean air, clean water, contamination of land. We must protect, we must make safe this country for us all. We must seek answers through our most accredited scientists and use today's technology to assist in these endeavors. Thank you. I humbly accept the challenge . God Bless us all.
6
When someone really cares about the country and its people it shows. Just the opposite is showing here. He spends money on himself, uses government to support his friends and family while disregarding the purpose of his agency. Throw him out, and in the meantime vote for Democratic Congressional candidates, who will get some control over this mess, in.
58
Pruitt is an ignorant, self-serving, lame excuse for a government employee. His criminal behavior should land him in jail. He is a typical Clown car administration lackey, however.
51
Shifty-eyed weasel behavior and greed never a good combo. Keep the heat turned up on this guy. Maybe we have misunderestimated him. Or maybe there is some innocent explanation for all the chicanery.
Pruitt is the GOP's model citizen. He is _exactly_ what government would devolve into if the Republicans achieve total control. Blankenship would be endorsed, too, except that the Democratic minority is just large enough to defeat him.
Vote, folks, please vote!
42
I am sincerely concerned that he would have no idea how to answer many questions. He is not one bit bright in my observation. At least he realizes it. It's generally opined around here in Oklahoma that he only got into government because he couldn't maintain a viable law practice. Once in our AG office, he had energy lobbyists and in house counsel write many of his documents. He was wholly incapable. He sued the federal government multiple times at huge costs and kept losing. Ignorant people do not like to be confronted with sincere questions from smart people, especially if they are not his own toadies.
169
Democratic leaders in Congress had lobbyists or Lefty think-tankers write their laws during the failed Obama years, too. Don't think that just because you have been trained to hate these people who you've never met that you have new information to share.
It's pretty amazing someone who's as corrupt as Pruitt can stay in position in a democracy, the largest one in the world at that. Guess working for the swamp lord has its perks.
37
Just for the record - the US is not the largest democracy in the world. That honor belongs to India.
2
not anymore it ain't.
pruitt is the worst of the worst bunch of people in our government in our history.
27
The photo of Pruitt accompanying this article should have a bubble above his head saying: "I wonder how much I can sell Half Dome for?"
25
L,
Half Dome!!!
That is really scary.
Only b/c it is possible with Mr. P.
4
Typical Republicans. Remember how in his first term Dubya refused to address any groups that did not consist of solely hand-picked sycophants? Frist rule of the Corrupt" only answer questions you want to answer. Ignore everyone else. I remember our corrupt local congressman insisted don having hearings for the Endangered Species Act in order to gather "data" to gut the act. He would secretly schedule the meetings in the most remote little towns in some western state and then send out secret notices to friendly groups weeks in advance, and to unfriendly groups only 24 hours before the meeting was to start - making ti impossible for any but enemies of the ESA to attend. Pure, unmitigated corruption. But typical for Republicans who cannot stand the light of truth.
18
With all the corruption that has been uncovered, Pruitt stays on whereas others were fired. Why? Because he is hand-picked by Koch, and he needs a soundproof secure phone to take his marching orders. If Koch is happy, then he funds Trump via campaign contributions, and we know know the Trump litigation machine needs constant feeding. So that is Trump's number one EPA goal - keep Koch happy!
Less than ten years after Citizens United, Koch has bought himself a government that prioritized his problems above everything; a government that not only does not answer to "the people", but works in secret in soundproof booths, meeting only with a core constituency (polluting companies); a government that uses biometric screening to enter an office out of fear that incriminating and outrageous documents will be leaked.
What could these documents say? Well that chemical proven to create cancer deaths in children which was regulated - that chemical is so much cheaper and costs Koch so much money that those cancer deaths are going to spike. Not exactly something you want out in public!!
Pruitt has been called effective in implementing Trump's agenda. What that means is Koch is happy. Pruitt is a guy that Koch and his cronies can call up in the soundproof booth and tell him to kill this or that regulation, and he does it. I would venture to guess that the biometric security and soundproof booth is Koch's suggestion too!
43
It has been my thinking too that the Kochs figure prominantly here. They cannot be denied in the Republican party of today, and not just where the fossil fuel industry is concerned. Btw, their industries are among our country’s biggest polluters and no consciousness regarding their responsibility to pay for cleanup. Libertarian ode to freedom, including the freedom to harm others.
What good is it to have an ethics office if the people at the top don't have any?
28
So they can call the unethical on their unethical behavior.
So Pruitt hides his schedule, won’t conduct meetings unless before a friendly audience, ignores the press, only takes questions from people who agree with him, lies to congress, etc. This is behavior befitting of a dictator. It is undemocrating, appropriate in a closed society, but not in America. Does Pruitt even understand what this country stands for?
22
If this prince of environmental turpitude gets the boot because he's taking up too much media time, we will see him again when our good friends from Oklahoma vote him into the senate. Hooray for lousy education, Christian dominionism and the OK energy cartel. What's a little fracking when the world is gonna end in the Rapture.
47
I know the Times needs to stick to objective fact-based journalism. In that spirit shouldn’t quote marks be employed whenever Pruitt is referred to as a “public servant”? A real public servant in his position would not be undermining environmental regulations designed to maintain safe air and water quality.
37
Thus guy is only 48?
My grandmother always said - you get the face you deserve when you approach 50.
Lying and cheating and greed takes its toll
So does poisoning natural respurces for personal profit
(Compare pruitt's ash colored hang dog visage with that of the almost octogenarian dali lama,)
29
The one good thing about Pruitt's age is that he will probably live long enough to have to face the opprobrium of the next generation.
15
Puritt's actions show him to be a rapacious thug. Just like his boss.
36
This is all so futile and counterproductive. Instead of looking for ways to make protection of the environment more efficient and effective, the modern Republican Party seems hell bent on turning the clock back to 1950. From climate change to exposure to hazardous pollutants to mountaintop removal coal mining, the default position is to deny there is any problem at all.
Take the Clean Air Act (CAA), for example. It was first passed in 1970 and last amended in 1990 – nearly 30 years ago. Since that time there have been substantial advances in our understanding of the relative risks of exposure to various air pollutants, of the populations most at risk to this exposure, and of innovative approaches for addressing these risks. Moreover, long-range transport of pollutants such as fine particles and the increasing global background concentrations of pollutants such as ozone are making tradional local control measures less effective.
The Clean Air Act is only one example of the need to update and rethink our approaches to environmental protection. But there is great reluctance to do so, for it is not obvious that all parties would approach the problem in a constructive manner.
22
We want clean air not billowing black smoke from big factories. Pruitt should be outed and replaced by someone who understands that we must BREATHE better than smog infested China or we will die of cancer. Coal mines should be closed for the sake of the miners. They don’t deserve black lungs anymore than we do. We need a real EPA like that in European countries. We must remove Trump and Pruitt from office and we must do it to save our lives.
29
I dunno NYT...
GOP makes things so difficult for you knight templars of knowledge - trustees of truth...
Other side often so much more open and cooperative...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/sunday-review/hillary-clinton-chasing...
"...never told anyone this, but one time when I’d been visiting the Brooklyn campaign headquarters I found an iPhone in the women’s restroom. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to belong to Mr. Podesta’s assistant because when I picked it up, a flood of calendar alerts for him popped up. I placed it on the sink counter, went into the stall, came out and washed my hands. I left the phone sitting there, worried that if I turned it in, even touched it again, aides would think I had snooped...
.....
Hiding or hanging the truth out in plain sight doesn't make it right - even if it's the truth...
But - hiding or hanging only half of it out there can be worse...
Bigger truth – well before Trump, most every agency and department established to make America great and keep its citizenry safe has been converted into a toll booth or IV needle seeking a vein...
Only thing left alone - till recently - was the Internet...
Obama sure fixed that, though...
You realize that you have ignored the article and the issues raised there to vent your own personal dislikes. I'm puzzled as to how this helps the environmental situation unless you are implicitly saying that you approve of Pruitt, both his conduct and objectives. If so, just directly defend him.
4
Little Scotty Pruitt. Not going to have your security detail forever, whatever will you do then when you run into doo-doo?
6
If environmental protection were religion and not science, Pruitt would be the anti-christ. But evangelicals would vote for the morally depraved man who appointed him all over again. Sorry evangelicals, but your cat is out of the bag. Your professed pieties are a sham. If you are a politician with an R behind your name, well, we're all sinners and all is forgiven. If you are a politician with a D behind your name, it's eternal damnation. Shameless hypocrites.
14
It appears Pruitt has been an A+ student in Putin's classes on secrecy and deception.
9
Pruitt's supporters should list their addresses so I can throw my trash, hazardous waste into their backyards for their kid to play in. Clean water is a right. Clean air is a right. It is not the right of any company to pollute in any way outside of the bounds of their property.
26
Leaving aside any even farcical reference to any threats against any of Pruitt's supporter's property or their kids, your point is precisely why all those private-property worshipping right-wing Libertarians should oppose Pruitt's pro-polluter activist agenda: Air & water don't abide property lines.
Thing is, Pruitt denies the science proving pollutants to be dangerous.
In his biblical view, the science can't be right, because god put resources there to use, & god created air to vent smokestacks into, & he created rivers & streams to carry off industrial waste.
The earth was Created for humans to exploit & use up.
See NPR's 'On Fire For God's Work': How Scott Pruitt's Faith Drives His Politics:
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=607181437
5
Uhm, just a note: the FOIA lawsuit was filed by the Sierra Club, not the Times.
2
the nyt filed a suit as well
2
The corrupt need lots of "protection."
Pruitt should be wearing an orange jumpsuit.
10
Not even Ronald Reagan supported Anne Gorsuch or James Watt after their misfeasance. Yet in the land where alternative facts rule, this guy still has a job. This charlatan aspired to greater office. That is the scary part.
12
"this guy still has a job."
Because his boss is even worse that him.
9
[[“Whoever said you can’t have your cake and eat it too, doesn’t know what to do with cake,”]]
They probably also don't know that the phrase actually is "You can't eat your cake and have it too."
5
He walks and talks as if he’s got something to hide. Probably doesn’t look anyone in the eye unless he’s known them a long time. Probably slinks around like a coward- which he is. Severely paranoid people end up hanging themselves. His people will eventually turn against him.
5
Perhaps some of President Trump’s secretive and pompous cabinet secretary’s such as Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke, and Mick Mulvaney should instead be referred to as Reich Ministers. They sure relish in flaunting their self perceived power.
2
"...driven more by a desire to avoid tough questions from the public?" No, that's a secondary aspect. Primary is the desire to hide his literally dirty work on behalf of his masters, particularly the energy industry.
8
We need actual laws about transparency and degree of expected documentation. That we can’t even find out details of his schedule without a lawsuit is an absolute farce.
You get a government job. You receive a .gov email address. You conduct all your business through that. You answer to any and all people, not just staged publicity events. Your schedule is published.
In exchange for this loss of privacy and autonomy you get to work on some of he world’s biggest challenges and serve your country. I realize I’m dating myself expressing such a saccharine sentiment in the age of insatiable self-enrichment.
20
Scott Pruitt should be asked to list all the scientists he can find who doubt climate science. Then we can give him the list of all scientists who believe in it. Case closed.
7
This is utterly disgraceful. I can't see any way in which this behavior results in meaningful policy. All efforts he accomplishes will be yanked back shortly thereafter. Thankfully.
8
When Pruitt looks at everything that Trump gets away with, is it any surprise that he apparently has presidential ambitions? He has spent his entire first year at the EPA swearing fealty to the Kochs and other energy billionaires, currying favor with major polluters and land grabbers and he gets to do it all on the American taxpayers’ dime with all the congressional trappings and then some. All that money and good will from potential future donors could sure come in handy when he moves on to higher office. He epitomizes the absolute corruption and influence peddling better than any other cabinet member, and that’s saying a lot.
7
Isn't this the guy with a cone of silence in his office? How surprising.
4
Interesting picture of Pruitt looking at a backdrop photo of Yosemite. Most of us would see the beauty and grandeur. He's probably wondering how much the drilling rights would be worth.
9
To his masters.
3
Pruitt, being from the Bible belt, surely knows the quote “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly” (Micah 6:8). People who live in this manner have no need of secrecy or security details. Pruitt, however, has chosen another path and consequently probably needs all the security he can get.
7
"adding that Mr. Pruitt “just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a public figure.”
The correct term is "public servant".
And that is the problem with the entire Trump administration.
None of these people, from Trump on down, understand that they are public servants and they work for us, We The People.
Trump is not the sole owner of America.
His Cabinet members are no longer heads of private companies.
Every single person, including Pence, Sanders Huckabee and Conway, are subject to FOIA, records must be kept, and must be done in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations of our government.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell allow Trump to continue unchecked and unfettered, ignoring conflict after conflict. Both broke their Oaths of Office months ago.
Vote for Democrats in your upcoming Primary election.
Vote Democratic in the November 6th Midterms.
Changing the majority in the House and/or the Senate is how we begin to fix this.
Voting is your voice - use it.
16
Remember Trump knew him, put him in this position and said" Tear it down!" And you get to keep all the spoils!
I think Americans both right and left agree that it is past time that elected representatives and senators and Cabinet heads make available at the end of each day what they did that day, hour by hour, where, with whom and for what purpose.
Should one feel they can't reveal a name of someone they met with, let that be noted.
I don't expect cabinet heads and congresspeople to be meeting only with people to afraid or shady to let it be known they are meeting with elected officials and cabinet heads.
We pay their blighted salaries. We have a right and an obligation to know what they do all day.
All of them, any party.
All Americans are sick of the corruption and cronyism and bribes and kickbacks and wheeling and dealing with multi-billionaires (yet no time to meet with any normal American, ranchers, inner city parent, coal miner, schoolteacher, etc. --- unless that American is guaranteed to praise them).
Pruitt may be spending 90% our money we budget for him and 90% of a three-hour work day on out-of-office fabulously expensive restaurant hush-hush meetings with zero American citizens, all foreigners, all day.
We just don't know, do we?
Same with all of them -- how did Senator Liberal or Congressman Evangelical spend this day, Monday, who did they meet with, where, why?
We, the people, have to hold them accountable. We can call every morning and ask their staff we pay for what, where , who and why of the previous day's activities.
They work for us. We need to know.
11
Also, our 'drain the swamp' president lost no time in reversing the previous administration's decision to make public the list of White House visitors. Pruitt is just following Trump's lead
8
Scott Pruitt has contempt for anyone who can't directly benefit him or his corporate donors. Therefore he is an apt representative of the morally and ethically bankrupt man who appointed him.
Hopefully our country can survive this travesty.
4
Controlling questions, creating friendly crowds, allowing press coverage only after the fact and only on the government's terms.
Finally I understand why this administration has been shouting FAKE NEWS.
4
Seems like there's truth in Pruitt's (almost) anagram: Trip Up
2
I am practically speechless. I sure hope these are criminal acts. I always file for a tax extension, but this year I won't pay the feds a penny if Scott Pruitt is still in office in October. This is utterly beyond belief.
4
So my taxpayer dollars are being used to pay for an agency to help out the wealthy & powerful businesses who want to exploit the natural resources that belong to the American people? If that's what it's doing, just shut down the EPA. It's not protecting anything except some giant wallets.
7
Wow. Gotta love the way this article closes out.
Millan and Sydney Hupp are like little Pruitts in training. I foresee a long career ahead of them — stamping license plates.
And “the Honorable”? My god. They might as well call him Captain Stupendous. There’s absolutely no honor in Pruitt.
5
Where will the Congressional investigations ever start when the Dems take the House in November? So many scandals, so many abuses, such a target-rich environment!
If anyone can drown in a flood of subpoenas, it's Scott Pruitt.
God, I cannot wait!
4
My gosh, this guy is so unfit for this position,,it’s mind boggling. The name of the agency is “Environmental PROTECTION Agency”, yet he’s hell bent on dismantling the protections. Topping things off, he’s likely among the most corrupt in a very corrupt administration.
But, he’s still employed...he’s still there. I can only think that he’s at the head of a long list of Trump sycophants. That’s how to keep your job under this rotten excuse of a president.
7
Scott Pruitt perfectly embodies the destructive philosophy-thinking-sabotage impulses of President Trump and his mis-administration. To lead the Environmental Protection Agency, appoint Pruitt, a career shill for outfits that despoil our environment.
55
This is blatant corruption, a flagrant example of a government agency captured completely by those it's supposed to regulate. What disgusting characters these Trumpers are.
133
Putting aside whether one agrees or disagrees with the substance of Pruitt's deregulatory agenda, there's a right way and wrong (or, if you will, a democratic and undemocratic, because administrative agencies are extensions of the democratic system) way to go about it. By conducting government business under the cloak of secrecy, Pruitt is actually doing a disservice to his industry constituency.
21
"his industry constituency"?
Geez, call me naive but I thought the head of the EPA actually worked for all the People of the U. S. of A.
2
What happened to “drain the swamp?”
3
Pruitt's behavior would be appropriate were he working for Vladimir Putin. Come to think of it, perhaps he is, by proxy.
161
It doesn't matter. The government, indeed the country is totally corrupt. This too will
be ignored. What's the point? We're done for.
26
If Pruitt is not indicted for his illegal activities he may be captured with a butterfly net, soon....Typical demagogue from this extreme administration out to destroy regulations, rules and protections that protect US all and only for more profit.....Pruitt like trump is below our common decency. He needs to go like the rest.
26
To the Honorables, Eric and Lisa, You may find keeping track of Mr. Pruitt's secret, first class, highly secure, cool housing situations, cone of silence and disregard for science, like trying to corral thousands of feral cats. I take that back. Feral cats are way more attuned to the environment around them. They will also be ready to eat any rats jumping from Mr. Pruitt's yacht, "Catch Me if You Can". RAW
8
It's time to toss this pint sized pip-squeak big man wannabe before he ruins our environment and sticks us with an 8 figure bar tab. And toss the guy who hired him.
63
Trump appointed a fox to guard the henhouse, and all is going precisely as planned. While the EPA may be the most disturbing example, he same is true for the departments of Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, HUD, Interior, state, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. No other administration in history has so carefully planned the elimination and undermining of the stated goals for each cabinet position.
48
From reading about Pruitt’s m.o. (for the benefit of Trumpettes, his modus operandi) the following becomes absolutely clear:
1. He doesn’t trust his constituents with their Second Amendment rights.
2. He IS the swamp.
3. He is a self-dealing coward of the highest order.
4. He committed perjury in front of congress.
5. He’ll stop at nothing to prevent the American people from learning the above 4 items.
6. LOCK HIM UP!
189
What do you expect from an political sycophant whose every action is antithetical to the mission of his agency? Of course he's trying to hide the fact that the head of the EPA is instead trying to destroy the environment!
This is one all those Senators who mindlessly voted to confirm him despite the fact that everyone knew he was unfit for the job.
21
The good people of OK must have been hoodwinked or strong-armed by this corrupt anti-public servant. Surely they share the desire of all sentient beings to breathe clean air and drink good water. And now that Pruitt has grossly overplayed his dirty hand, they can find some solace. He used he national fisc to finance his personal lifestyle of the wannabe rich and famous, and he has been shown to have used his position of public trust to line his own polyester pockets, and the silk pockets of his industry pals.
Oklahoma bar should immediately revoke his license to practice law for the too-many-to count ethics violations.
And the US Attorney should look at the recently revealed sleazy OK real estate deals through the lens of a RICO. And look too at the industry boot-licking as theft of services.
12
"So yay," here is another gargantuan pile of evidence about Pruitt's hostility towards those he is accountable to: US, and who he is beholden to: industry groups & interests who seek to gut environmental regs, with impunity & behind closed (and no doubt bullet -proof) doors.
Too much media attention is paid the endless West Wing freak show, which has allowed the Pruitts in this administration free rein to destroy the agencies they were hired to adminster.
16
Sadly, the opposite or your last sentence is true. They weren't hired to administer the agencies, they were hired to destroy them.
2
This guy is dirty. He's been dirty. The EPA is in deep trouble.
And, if this is a direct quote, the EPA can't spell, either:
More recently, the agency moved to require that any documents related to Mr. Pruitt that are gathered as a result of Freedom of Information requests be provided to his political aides 48 hours in advance for an “awareness review” before they are made public, “to insure that leadership is aware of public disclosures,” a June email said.
7
The cowardice, duplicity and venality of Mr. Pruitt are a sight to behold. He thinks of the environment the same way he thinks about government service: something to be exploited for his personal benefit.
18
when did the epa become a for-profit agency?
23
Maybe Scott Pruitt should hide in one of his beloved coal mines...Better yet on a raft in the Pacific in that island of plastic bottles...
What a guy.
15
I went to an environmental college and am aware of the dangers of climate change, fossil fuels and the rest harming our planet. Pruitt denies all. Trump does not care about the future of our planet. But many of us do. I don't have children. But the people with children and grandchildren should be alarmed. Climate change is not a liberal lie. It is a fact. The damage fossil fuels is doing is not a lie. It is a fact. Other developed countries understand this and are responding to the danger. But we are going backward. Ignoring scientists is dumb. And won't change the facts.
22
Generally when you try to obfuscate and hinder transparency nothing good is a foot. And if he and his aides were smart they'd realize the more you hide things that will only cause people to dig even deeper. Pruitt is a disgraceful public servant and not a smart one at that - what happened to walk softly and carry a big stick? This guy can barely get out of the door without setting off alarms.
10
This just makes me weep.
14
Poor Scott...
So afraid that some reporter... or child with asthma... will ask him how he sleeps at night.
44
I suspect his concern over the friendliness or unfriendliness of business executives and news outlets will be replaced by an even more personal concern over the friendliness or hostility of individual judges whose acquaintance he'll be meeting after he resigns.
19
" ... Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who receives protection from armed security officers, reportedly retaliated against at least one of his security agents after being told it was against policy to activate their vehicle's emergency lights and siren so Pruitt could rush to the airport or to dinner at a Washington restaurant ... In Washington, there is an unfortunate phenomenon known as 'earpiece envy,' where being surrounded by armed security agents speaking into microphones attached to their shirt cuffs is something to be coveted as it bolsters an incredible sense of self-importance. " (CNN, 6Apr2018) A poster boy for "drunk with power".
100
It is a shame that Scott Pruitt doesn’t have the same regard for the health and safety of the citizens that he is paid protect as he does for himself. That is hard to reconcile with his proclaimed “deep Christian faith”
144
Oh, no, it isn't. This is the "godly bidness" side of "deep Christian faith." Christianism monetized. Pharisees and moneychangers in the temple.
8
I'm glad I'm old and have lived a life where I have enjoyed the clean air, water and relatively stable environment, this administration is out to destroy what remains of its glory!!
56
The air and water in the USA was worse at pretty much any time over the last century than it is today, so the task at hand nowadays is to remind the sensible Republicans that it was Richard Nixon who created the EPA and signed landmark legislation to clean the air and water because it was literally killing us. The environment wasn't stable - I grew up in Jersey and it's much nicer now - and even in the Los Angeles area these days, kids actually see blue in the sky, not tan.
Pruitt and Zinke are fighting their fights solely to defend profits for a small subset of our economy. So what's important now is to see their efforts stopped, then reversed.
Smokestacks belching poison USED TO be the sign of prosperity. They want to bring that back, but their nostalgia for way back then will make it more difficult for more Americans to become old.
China and India tried industry the 1950's way and found that Chinese and Indian people die the same way we did from the same toxic pollution. So China's now trying to become top manufacturer (and adopter) of clean technologies, and India's been cancelling planned coal plants in favor of solar.
8
Well these is certainly alot of "news" about Pruitt! For some reason he is always in the headlines. Normally we never hear ANYTHING about the EPA director. So what's different about Pruitt? Oh, I know! He's conservative! That makes sense now. Why else would the NY TIMES target him personally to try to get him fired? They believe they are saving the planet and are morally right, so they can say anything they want and justify themselves. That's what dictators do.
1
He's not being investigated by the New York Times. You may want to enlighten yourself......
14
What a laugh. If Pruitt is a "conservative", tell him to quit wasting the planet's resources and the tax-payers' dollars.
19
Are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with the 11 ethics investigations (being carried out by Republicans) currently underway?
14
Pruitt's regulatory policy changes are going to kill or maim Americans, their children, and their grand children through all of the future generations. His legacy is one of the power greed, and obedience to ignorance. He and his kind worship no god but the all mighty dollar.
In a realistic, reason based America, Mr. Pruitt would be in jail for panhandling. In our new Trumpian America, Mr. Pruitt is a Prince. It is a world turned up side down.
42
Pruitt and Trump... two peas from the same pod. Only want to take the "fair" questions. Only want to speak with "friendly" news networks. Want to spin a "too good to believe" tale and expect their base to buy it hook, line and sinker.
It take a cast of thousands to wrestle this kind of in-you-face, above the law mentality. Thank God for the press as Republicans in Congress no longer believe it is their job to govern.
24
Who would have ever "thunk" it? Trump's cabinet members and FoxNews anchors are all under investigation for doing unlawful things. Is it unbelievable? No, not really - because 44.5 is under investigation for fraud and criminal acts as well. We elected a lying, cheating huckster as President and the people that he associates with turn out to be lying, cheating hucksters as well.
35
and not a few people say that we have the government that we deserve in this country for being such money-grubbing swine...
2
Even if Pruitt is removed from his position at the EPA he will slither among his ilk in the energy sector to become another slimy, well-paid lobbyist meddling in politics with filthy cash in hand. Pruitt and his pal Zinke are the worst of the present swamp creatures, a cesspool Trump pretended to drain, but instead eagerly made it his own. There just isn't a better place to hide ones nefarious ambitions and acts.
28
In deep red Oklahoma no one cares much if elected officials officials are openly corrupt corporate shills, Pruitt mistakenly thought this would be the case in Washington as well.
He is half right. The GOP at this point is completely transactional, they want power and control and nothing else matters.
Fortunately the media is shining a light and progressives and Independents are noticing.
37
Scott Pruitt should never have been appointed to lead an agency that he has fought in court on so many fronts. How can an anti-environment individual lead the very agency he abhors? Well, the GOP has evil down to a fine science. They have employed this clever tactic across the board; Betsy DeVoss -- always wanted to destroy public school education and give vouchers to parents who can well-afford to pay for private school, and so she was chosen to become Education Secretary -- for the express purpose of doing just that. The same with Ben Carson -- and so on.
Scott Pruitt, however, has been appointed to do the most damage to our environment. That a single individual should be permitted to destroy the planet for the rest of us exceeds my ability to understand it. When it can be shown that someone is this injurious to our very well being, they should not be allowed to continue in their so-called post. Trump signed an executive order the other day giving industry carte blanch to dump waste into streams, rivers and the ocean -- at will.
I hope when the new Congress is sworn in they will dismantle the dismantled erosions of regulations Trump and his enablers have authored. We should not have to tolerate our children drinking lead-infested water, breathe smoggy air, etc. Why are we tolerating it, and why do these destroyers remain in office?
25
"He didn’t want anybody to question anything,” Mr. Chmielewski said, adding that Mr. Pruitt “just doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a public figure.” Really?! What about all of those years he spent in the OK state government? This leech needs to go, ASAP, and pay us taxpayers back for his boondoggle.
27
Absolutely. And with interest, compounded by the minute. By now that should be billions.
1
"Honorable." The absolute last adjective that should come to mind regarding this sneaky, self-serving snake.
15
Pruitt is too vile to receive death threats. He has gone out of his way to be hurtful to both people and our environment.
For his words, actions, and perhaps wishful thinking, he deserves to live a long life sentence behind bars with a special cellmate named Bubba!
7
Let us look forward to justice being served when the next president -- who will not be Trump -- asks the Justice Department to evaluate and investigate Pruitt, and generate the deserved indictments.
141 weeks until January 20, 2021.
28
Given that people are going to die as a result of his corrupt efforts, Pruitt belongs in prison for the rest of his life for conspiracy to commit murder.
43
How can the fox guard the hen house with all of these complaining chickens!
10
The Trump Obstruction train chugging along. “Integrity be gone” is their motto. Let the law deal with their crimes.
14
Trump's "Drain the Swamp" omitted "And Bring in the Sewer Rats." Pruitt is corrupt. Trump and his entire cabinet is corrupt, but so are the complicit Republicans whom all took an oath to serve the public good.
41
How long can Mr. Pruitt "twist slowly, twist slowly in the wind,” and why is he too stupid to take his money and run, before things get worse for him?
At the moment he is the subject of 11 Congressional investigations, very serious muck-raking (kudos to the NYT) discoveries ... but no criminal charges. Time to get out ... while the getting is good. That real-estate deal in Oklahoma is worse than what convicted Shelly Silver. (Maybe statue of limitations has passed?)
And then Trump and the Republicans ... why are you letting this drag out? There's no possible way Pruitt could head the DOJ now (what Trump was rumored to want). Andrew Wheeler was a coal lobbyist, what do you need Pruitt for?
Does Pruitt have some blackmail kompromat on Trump? Because if not, why hasn't Trump fired him?
18
Because he is doing exactly what GOP wants, and what Trump promised, which is to ditch all the regulations that Obama put in place to preserve public lands, ensure safe water, protect the environment, etc.
I do not understand how these legislators can be so cynical and destructive. It must be that their families will never have to deal with the negative effects of their policies.
9
Pruitt's demonstrated concept of "public" and "ethics" is so perverse as to beg the question of what this public serpent considers "service"??
"Serve yourself from the troth"?
"Public serves my needs (wants)"?
"Table settings at a church fundraiser"?
This guy quite literaly, "Takes the cake"
11
Like Al Capone's conviction for income tax evasion instead of murder - Pruitt will go down for his illegal meetings and expenses, but not for his deliberate destruction of the environment for profit.
Hey, whatever works.
20
As a taxpayer, not only am I paying for this weasel to fly all over the country and world to get his back patted by polluters, I am actually paying to keep the truth hidden from myself.
273
Pruitt is easily the most despicable and dangerous member of the cabinet. It is difficult to say which is worse, his outright venality or the irreparable harm he is doing to the environment. It is inexcusable that he wasn't terminated weeks ago.
32
SP is among the worst of the swamp monsters that Failing 45 is feeding.
12
Previous EPA administrators didn't hide their activities and avoid the press, because they worked for the public good. Pruitt works for industry.
26
Not so tough S.P. is afraid of public scrutiny? LikeTrump, just another inept, albeit awful, GOP poser brazenly practicing dirty tricks statecraft to the detriment of the American public. Shameful to people, but a favorite son of the Chamber of Commerce and Koch Enterprises.
10
If I were as corrupt as this guy - and as focused on erasing all of the rules that provide breathable air and drinkable water to Americans - I'd want to conceal all of my activities too.
15
Mr. Trump and his cronies believe that they only work for the people who voted for Trump. They don't work for all of America--only for the people who voted for them.
They remind me of my congressman, Fred Upton. He only speaks at engagements that he knows will be friendly and does not announce them to his constituents until they're over.
How can you lead when you surround yourself by a bubble of supporters? The insularity of Trump-Supporting Republicans, more than anything else, is dividing the nation. It may lead to short-term gains for the Republicans but eventually the damage to the nation will be overwhelming. The Republicans may even manage to win the midterms.. but at what cost to the future of our nation and the world at large?
29
In the past, Trump has referred to journalists as 'scum' and 'slime'. I can think of no two better adjectives to describe Trump and his lackeys, Pruitt, the anti EPA 'leader' and Zinke, who looks to open up as much federal land to fossil fuel exploration and mining as possible.
These are despicable, greedy people who look to government only as a way to create more wealth for their real masters, the Koch brothers and their ilk. In Trump world, corruption and avarice know no bounds so long as there is a dollar sign attached to it.
292
... and as i have stated elsewhere:
if i am not mistaken, the koch brothers stated
that government's only purpose is to protect
private property.
firm conviction ... [in more than one sense!]
14
This criminal belongs in prison. Where's our corrupt attorney general?
34
Recused from everything, and complicit in everything!
11
Stormy Daniel is a better fit for EPA than Pruitt given what she said on SNL.
26
This article demonstrates why the press is so important. If you don't ask questions, you won't get answers. And if an elected official doesn't answer questions, and purposefully evades them, while taking tax payer's money, he is a fraud.
397
Pruitt is as crooked as politicians come. A true 21st century Tammany Hall racketeer.
55
Tammany Hall remained in power so long because they actually performed services for ordinary people - the voters - even if they did skim something off the top. Pruitt is just a corporate lickspittle. Even the CEO's who glad hand him must take a Purell bath afterwards.
7
Learn from Trump. Don't be small time. You are in a position to steal bigly. Don't waste this tremendous opportunity. You can set yourself up for life.
18
Mr. Pruitt has no interest in protecting our environment or being a public servant. The American taxpayers pay his salary, but he really works on behalf of the Koch brothers and they want the EPA dismantled. Pruitt heads the Environmental Destruction Agency. We have a pro-pollution/anti-health administration leading our once great nation.
Read Dark Money by Jane Mayer. Vote the GOP out of office.
220
thank you
for the recommendation, dturner!
may i add another one:
'how democracies die'
by steven levitsky & daniel zilblatt.
12
And another recommendation, "Democracy in Chains," by Duke prof Nancy MacLean. The subtitle is "The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America."
The title is not hyperbolic. It'll tell you all about a guy named James McGill Buchanan who, in the 1950s, enraged by Brown v Topeka, developed a detailed plan "to prevent those without great property or power from using their majority votes to better their lives." The Kochs jumped on his theories when they founded and funded the Cato Institute.
It'll scare you silly but also arm you, as does Jane Mayer's work.
When I posed something about the book, I was stunned to see the raging Twitter responses from "libertarians," who offer fanatical and ad feminem attacks on MacLean herself as criticism of the book.
The swampiest of the swamp creatures- and that’s saying something.
21
I don't understand why this man is accountable to no one.
Pray for the Republic...and the environment.
72
With 10,000 documents available it's hard to see where the secretiveness comes in. Just using a word doesn't make it so.
1
Because the documents were not made "available" to the public. Instead, The New York Times had to sue the agency in order to obtain the emails under the freedom of information act.
19
Did you read the article? The secretiveness refers to the lengths that Pruitt and his team have gone to in an effort to hide their shady dealings and questionable ethics from the American public (you know, the people they ostensibly serve)
19
Two words to describe Pruitt:
Entitled
Paranoid
13
Pruitt and Zinke are both dismantling government's grip on the protection of America's lands, water, and any living thing that gets in the way of the private firms that they heed their allegiance to. They are examples of the most disgusting leaders that Trump has in his devilish cadre. Thank you NYT for being true patriots for a nation under siege.
97
This guy works for us. We pay his salary and all the other corrupt charges he's piling up. He doesn't get to make the rules. Kudos to NYT for digging after him. We hope to help you in November when we turn the House and Senate and can start some real investigations into his corruption. He needs to go.
147
From the outside, this man seems to backstab every measure taken to make the world just a little cleaner and more sustainable for the benefit of very few, placing the burden, not only of his fellow Americans, but the entire world. It is dangerous, everybody else will think ‘why should I bother?’. Gas mask, anyone?
18
This turkey needs to be gone, and soon. He gives shady lawyers a bad name.
7
Aside from its breathtaking corruption and downright incompetence, Pruitt’s E.P.A. is the very definition of “fake news”. Sad!
lf he is not fired, he should be impeached and removed.
9
To those who condemn Mr. Pruitt’s leadership as antithetical to the foundational principles of the very agency he leads, I say Pshaw! Look how hard he’s working to protect our nation’s swamplands!
7
“Whoever said you can’t have your cake and eat it too, doesn’t know what to do with cake,”
If that doesn't sound like the fox gloating in the hen house while wiping feathers from his face I don't know what does.
Earlier I commented on characteristics of conservatives in the piece on Cohen which included being aggrieved, put upon, and not yet rich enough. I forgot to add gated as embodied in "either you're with us or against us", or, as seen here “friendly and “unfriendly”.
Ironically enough BT (Before Trump) that probably meant friendly and unfriendly toward the environment, now it means toward the administrator.
9
So this is a public servant that doesn't want to be in the public eye.
That's easy, resign
It used to be the Environmental Protection Agency, now it should be called the Environmental Profit Agency.
This idiot and this boss both need to go, ASAP.
34
Some people go into public service to help make the world a better place - to serve. Some work in the public sector because their qualifications fit an open job and the long term benefits are good - a secure job. And some, like Mr. Pruitt, think taxpayer money is for them to line their pockets - greed without effort.
23
Shine the light brightly on these contemptible cockroaches NYT. Really bright !
Look how they scuttle back into the darkest of corners and cracks.
For it is only in darkness that these pests can thrive ......
55
Pruitt may engage in garden variety corruption - the subsidized luxuries like below-market rents, free front row seats to sports events, abuse of expense accounts for 'top dog' travel and lodging, perhaps outright bribes. Hey, that's par for the course for the ethically challenged "public servant."
But Pruitt hasn't stopped there. Far more disturbing, and seemingly glossed over in the day to day press reports, is the concerted effort by Pruitt and his henchmen to prevent public and press access to EPA events where agency policy is under discussion.
On what basis was the "entire building" where Pruitt appeared at the University of North Dakota declared "restricted access," for example? Why hasn't there been more uproar over the exclusion of local press from Pruitt's speaking engagement there? From whom did campus police receive their marching orders to bar reporters from even standing outside the building, much less entering to observe what Pruitt and the EPA were doing inside?
The EPA and similar state environmental regulatory agencies have long been required to provide open public access and to permit and seriously consider public comment on agency policy and agency action.
On what legal basis has Pruitt, by executive fiat, shut the door on the public the EPA is mandated to serve - while turning the agency into his personal plaything; and a shill for the industries it is required, by statute and long-standing, duly-enacted regulations, to control?
344
You are absolutely right. Why are we insisting that Pruitt should be fired? We should insist that he belongs in prison. Can have Zinke as cell mate.
4
Why did I ever think he was a PUBLIC servant, supposed to be accessible to the PUBLIC and function for the good of the PUBLIC?
174
Freind,
Please remember that corporations are people too.
-Mgmt
1
He's a snake... FYI ....NYT should be sure and ask for all his email accounts... he had private emails he used for government business in OK as AG.
445
I hope they do open up those libel laws. That's a harsh insult to the snakes (and other innocent creatures) who Phone-Booth Planet-Killer Pruitt works every week to kill.
1
Surely, even for the ethically challenged and corrupt Trump regime, this is beyond the pale and Pruitt has to go? Kudos to the professional serious media for exposing this play to pay disgrace.
568
He won't go. He is who we are. Whatever we can get away with. Access Hollywood tape proved that.
13
Nah-- he'll stay. He was hired to gut environmental regulations and do the bidding of the oil and gas industries plus any rich developers who want to pollute at will. Pay to play is just par for the course in the cesspool-- er administration-- filled with most corrupt liars and racists in U.S. history.
23
You would think so but how many times has that been said? Here's the Trump administrations plan: Cheat, lie and steal until the populous stops paying attention.
3
It's been reported that Pruitt likes to travel the world. Maybe we should give him a one-way ticket to an authoritarian country where he belongs.
The (Dis)Honorable Mr. Pruitt needs to be reminded that he works for the American people, not oil, gas and electric corporations.
240
No need of a reminder; I think he is got it right:
He works for Trump, who works for Putin.
14
I see an orange jumpsuit in his future travel plans, to Club Fed.
12
Do you think Trump works for the American people?
5
Trump to Pruitt to the tune of Wild Thing by the Troggs.
Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, I think I love you
But I wanna know for sure
Come on and deregulate
I love you
Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, Wild Thing
Wild Thing, I think you move me
But I wanna know for sure
Come on and deregulate
You move me
Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy, Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing
40
Great one, Rob! If you take requests - I request an extra verse about the swamp glowing poisonous green, with dead fish floating, for Pruitt's deregulation allowing coal byproduct dumping in waterways.
10
Scott Pruitt is the poster boy for the SWAMP. He lies; cheats and takes DEALS from lobbyists. Pruitt spends taxpayers money like water; because he is selfish and arrogant. Pruitt uses every dirty trick in the book. Pruitt lied to Congress. Trump keeps Pruitt in place because he does Trumps agenda; pushing business over people. Scott Pruitt needs to be removed from his position. Ray Sipe
377
This administration has shown that there are no consequences for lying to Congress, or to the citizens and media for that matter.
3
"Pruitt spends taxpayers money like water" – which is at risk and will be even more so if he has his way.
I got furious when I had to send a very large check to the IRS last month, knowing this guy would spend it in the blink of an eye – but then I remembered it also pays Mueller's salary.
2
And this guy wants to be Attorney General...he makes Sessions look normal....Scary.
26
Pruitt seems to be functionally afraid of the average American. So much for democracy.
123
Who exactly does this guy think he works for?
88
Himself, and himself, and himself.
18
He works for his OWN best interests, NOT OURS!
14
He knows perfectly well who he works for - himself.
8
The absolute WORST of " the BEST people ". Resign, FOOL. Or please proceed, and you will be going to Jail. This ain't Oklahoma.
128
I am at a loss for words which is unusual but simply stated Pruitt is the most reprehensible "public servant" in Trump's administration.
How the Senate confirmed this creep is beyond me, as he is a one-man wrecking machine bent on destroying our environment. He must be removed. Next is Zinke who is a carbon copy.
Nice job Trump in "Making America Great Again. I only hope and pray the 2018 midterm elections will be a big step back to normalcy.
478
Yeah, Zinke, the "I'm a (not) geologist" guy. John Oliver ripped him a new one on his 4/22/18 episode. Yet another fake in this misadministration.
27
The blue wave gets bigger and bigger every day.
3
Pruitt was confirmed by a Congress of Republicans who recognized that he truly was one of their tribe.
3
I’d say that this is unbelievable and should be investigated by Congress And others, then I saw the calendar and I know it will never be investigated.
9
Pruitt will definitely drain the swamp. Literally. Probably to pave it over and put a strip mall on top as long as the developers are paying up.
17
He should be remembered as the first cabinet member to transform his agency into a government funded lobbying firm.
672
Following trump's lead with the people's house.
16
@Jeff
"...government funded lobbying firm...."
for dirtier air
polluted water
polluted land
more mercury, lead and arsenic in our drinking water
disappearance of underground aquifers due to over-pumping
earthquakes resulting from excessive fracking,
and that's the short list. If Pruitt were proud of what he is doing he wouldn't hide in the shadows and lie about his actions.
He's literally daring us to remove him from office. Take action!
Register to vote, register everyone you bump into during your daily activities, remind them to vote before the election, and then by 5pm on election day check back to confirm that they have voted, allowing enough time to drive them to the polls if necessary.
17
Former mayor Richard M. Daley, objected once to being "scrootened" - Pruitt is trying to avoid it, too. So he should be scrootened in depth.
But he's fighting for his fossil-fuel owners, even as cracks start to appear in the Republican wall. For one thing, many utilities don't own generation any more, so they don't care if coal plants are kept running as cleaner, cheaper competition heads in. Natural gas will find the same headaches, as even Republicans learn to make money from wind, solar and storage, and as businesses save by conserving.
"Utilities, oil interests clash over EV policy at conservative policy summit
The battle at the American Legislative Exchange Council shows how utility interests are diverging from those of the oil and gas sector."
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/utilities-oil-interests-clash-over-ev-p...
And Trump's trying hard to make gas more expensive:
"With President Donald Trump threatening to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, fears are growing that pulling Iranian crude off the market could send oil markets skyrocketing.
Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, are warning prices would "rise briskly" under such a scenario."
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Forecast-oil-prices-will-r...
44
Don't gas prices ALWAYS go up when there's a GOP president? Remember a few years back when GW was in office and it went over $4 a gallon and I was living in SC then, where gas is cheaper than other parts of the country. I knew this was going to happen.
9
###***!@#$% and whatever else stands for swear words - thank you NYT for your lawsuit - I hope my subscription helped pay for it, and I hope my taxes are used to get these SOB's thrown our forever. What a bunch of sleazy cowards.
843
And thank you! I couldn’t say it better. Everyday that Scott “I’ll fly coach from now on” Pruitt holds office, his pockets get stuffed even more with everything and anything he can steal from the American taxpayers. I cannot wait to see him run out of Dodge. He is the anti -Whatever. The little guy went crazy with greed and power. And, holding hands with the Devil, he thought he was safe. Yes, thank the newspapers for EVERYDAY publishing more horror stories of his corruption. I will bet he is counting on all of this bad press to just go away...
58
Could not have said it better myself.
3
Centrist Democrats like Chuck Schumer, who take millions from hedge fund managers, then fail to advocate for policies that would actually help most people are also sleazy cowards.
In a two party system, the parties are supposed to oppose each other.
But Republicans oppose all that is good in the world, and Democratic centrists, want to compromise with that at any cost.
Schumer and centrist Democrats voted to increase military spending $82 billion per year, in exchange for one year of disaster relief for mostly red states, blowing up Obama's sequester. Seven Democrats just voted to make Mike Pompeo Trump's Secretary of State. Soon they will vote to put at torturer in charge of CIA.
If you believe there is something Trump wants to do that is worth compromising with, please go become a Republican.
Compromise with the Greater Evil is evil, and lesser evil.is a pathetic slogan for losers that are exactly that: lesser evil.
Again, sleazy cowards.
No one votes for lesser evil.
Advocate for the Greater Good.
6