Tag Archives: EPA

White House: Trump Has Full Confidence In Scott Pruitt

The Hill reports: White House legislative director Marc Short said on Sunday that President Trump has full confidence in embattled Environmental Protection Administrator (EPA) Scott Pruitt. “Scott Pruitt is doing a phenomenal job and the president is happy with him,” Short told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” Short refused to say what it would take for Trump to …

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Scott Pruitt’s Landlord Resigns From Lobbying Firm After Disclosure He Lobbied EPA, Pruitt Had Denied It

Politico reports: The prominent lobbyist whose wife rented a condominium to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt lobbied the agency while Pruitt was leading it, contrary to his and Pruitt’s public denials that he had any business before the agency, according to a Friday filing by his firm. The disclosure from the lobbying firm Williams & Jensen contradicts Pruitt’s public …

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170 Congress Members Demand Pruitt’s Resignation

The Hill reports: A group of 131 representatives and 39 senators signed a resolution introduced Wednesday that calls for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt to resign. The resolution states that the co-signers have “no confidence in the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and [are] calling for the immediate resignation of the Administrator.” Highlighted within the resolution are …

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REVEALED: Scott Pruitt Spent Millions On Security Detail But Flew Coach When Paying For His Own Tickets

The Associated Press reports: Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s concern with his safety came at a steep cost to taxpayers as his swollen security detail blew through overtime budgets and at times diverted officers away from investigating environmental crimes. Altogether, the agency spent millions of dollars for a 20-member full-time detail that is more than three times the size …

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Kato Kaelin Of Capitol Hill: Pruitt’s Lobbyist Landlords Changed The Locks Because He Just Wouldn’t Leave

Politico reports: Scott Pruitt was only supposed to be living in the Capitol Hill condominium that has become a focal point of his latest ethics controversy for six weeks last year, while he got settled in Washington. But the new Environmental Protection Agency administrator didn’t leave when his lease ended, instead asking the lobbyist couple who became his disgruntled landlords …

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LIVE VIDEO: White House Press Briefing

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to take questions from reporters Friday at 2 p.m. The briefing comes as President Trump reiterated support for his EPA chief Scott Pruitt, saying on Twitter Friday morning that Pruitt is “doing a great job but is totally under siege.” Pruitt has spent the week defending a number …

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Trump Rages About “Fake” Reports About Pruitt

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Friday voiced fresh support for his embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, saying he is doing a “great job,” while blasting reports that he’s considering replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Pruitt. According to a CNN report, Trump floated replacing Sessions atop the EPA with Pruitt, even as the agency chief battles deepening …

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EPA Officials Demoted For Questioning Scott Pruitt

The New York Times reports: At least five officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, four of them high-ranking, were reassigned or demoted, or requested new jobs in the past year after they raised concerns about the spending and management of the agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt. The concerns included unusually large spending on office furniture and first-class travel, as well as …

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EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Demanded Lights And Sirens In DC Traffic, Agent Who Refused Was Then Reassigned

CBS News reports: Several weeks after taking the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Scott Pruitt was running late and stuck in Washington, D.C., traffic. Sources tell CBS News that he wanted to use his vehicle’s lights and sirens to get to his official appointment, but the lead agent in charge of his security detail advised him that sirens …

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BIZARRE: EPA Chief Scott Pruitt’s Security Detail Broke Down His Condo Door Believing He Was Unconscious

ABC News reports: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s protective detail broke down the door at the Capitol Hill condo where he was living, believing he was unconscious and unresponsive and needed rescue, in a bizarre incident last year that the EPA has for months refused to discuss, according to sources and police radio traffic obtained by ABC News. The …

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EPA To Scrap Fuel Economy Targets For Cars And SUVs, Pruitt Under Fire For Cozy Rental From Energy Lobbyist

The Los Angeles Times reports: The Trump administration is poised to abandon America’s pioneering fuel economy targets for cars and SUVs, a move that would undermine one of the world’s most aggressive programs to confront climate change and invite another major confrontation with California. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce in the coming days that it will scrap …

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Trump Taps Dow Chemical Lawyer To Head The EPA’s Responses To Toxic Spills And Hazard Waste Incidents

Talking Points Memo reports: The White House announced on Friday President Donald Trump’s chosen nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste: Peter C. Wright, a corporate lawyer from The Dow Chemical Company. Tapped as the EPA’s assistant administrator, Wright would lead the agency’s efforts in responding to toxic spills and cleaning hazard waste sites. From the …

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EPA Head Scott Pruitt: Evolution Is An Unproven Theory

Politico report: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005. …

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Scott Pruitt: I’m Forced To Fly First Class Because Once Someone Said Something Rotten To Me At The Airport

The Washington Post reports: Verbal confrontations with members of the public prompted Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to switch to flying first or business class whenever possible, officials said Thursday. Henry Barnet, who directs EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training, said in an interview that the head of Pruitt’s security detail, Pasquale Perrotta, recommended in May that …

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EPA Official Wore Fake Nose To Spy On Driving Test

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Cathy Stepp’s daughter says her mother wore a fake nose and sunglasses to try to help her pass a 2011 driving test after she failed her initial attempt. Stepp had her daughter, Hannah, introduce her to staff on Jan. 11 after President Donald Trump appointed the former Wisconsin Department of Natural …

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EPA Chief Has Office Swept For Listening Devices

The Hill reports: The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had his office professionally examined earlier this year to look for covert surveillance devices. The EPA paid $3,000 in March to Edwin Steinmetz Associates to do a “sweep for covert/illegal surveillance devices” in Administrator Scott Pruitt’s office at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, documents provided to The Hill show. …

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EPA Head Blames Security Costs On Personal Threats

Bloomberg reports: The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency said an increase in his security detail is the result of an escalation in threats to him and his family. While environmental groups have pilloried the potential $1.9 million annual cost of round-the-clock security that comes as the agency moves to cut staff, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said security officials deemed …

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EPA Scrubs “Climate Change” Mentions From Website

The New York Times reports: The Environmental Protection Agency has removed dozens of online resources dedicated to helping local governments address climate change, part of an apparent effort by the agency to play down the threat of global warming. A new analysis made public on Friday found that an E.P.A. website has been scrubbed of scores of links to materials …

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EPA Rescinds Obama-Era Radiation Safety Limits, Sets Level For Irradiated Drinking Water Ten Times Higher

Bloomberg reports: In the event of a dirty bomb or a nuclear meltdown, emergency responders can safely tolerate radiation levels equivalent to thousands of chest X-rays, the Environmental Protection Agency said in new guidelines that ease off on established safety levels. The EPA’s determination sets a level ten times the drinking water standard for radiation recommended under President Barack Obama. …

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EPA To Repeal Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration announced Monday that it would take formal steps to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature policy to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a bitter fight over the future of America’s efforts to tackle global warming. At an event in eastern Kentucky, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection …

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