Today in Scott Pruitt Not Doing His Job
An old friend who used to hang out at the track used to yell this when two horses were nose-to-nose coming to the wire. "Jesus," he'd holler, "you can't shine a flashlight between 'em!" (Those often were the last non-obscenities he'd utter for the balance of the afternoon.) Right now, though, in the race for who is the worst appointment in Camp Runamuck, you can't shine a penlight between Betsy DeVos at Education and Scott Pruitt at the Environmental Protection Agency. But Pruitt may just have edged a nostril in front as they move into the first turn. From Reuters:
The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, was in his home state of Oklahoma on at least 43 of the 92 days of March, April and May, according to copies of his travel records obtained by the Environmental Integrity Project watchdog group and reviewed by Reuters. Pruitt's frequent visits to Oklahoma have raised concerns among critics that he is cultivating political relationships in the state at taxpayer expense, instead of focusing on his job as head of the environmental regulator.
Since it's clear that Pruitt doesn't consider this his job any more than an arsonist considers himself a fire inspector, this is perhaps an unfair criticism.
Pruitt has riled environmentalists by routinely raising doubts about the realities of climate change and by vowing to sweep away scores of Obama-era regulations rules to help business. Before becoming head of the EPA under Republican President Donald Trump, he was Oklahoma's attorney general and repeatedly sued the agency he now runs to block federal environmental rules. The travel records show Pruitt's schedule this spring often took him to cities in the U.S. heartland where he held meetings – often with oil and gas industry representatives - made speeches and attended events, before flying to Tulsa for extended weekends.
Multitasking!
Note to EPA spokespeople: I don't care (much) that Pruitt's paying for these junkets on his own. What I care is what he's selling of our natural heritage in those conveniently located cities in the heartland to which oil and gas industry executives regularly migrate. That's the kind of wildlife that worries me most.
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