Scott Pruitt

Collins Says She’ll Vote Against Confirming Scott Pruitt To Head Epa

... to protect human health and the environment,” Collins said. INFLUENCED BY FRIENDS OF ACADIA. Collins, a moderate, said Maine is at the end of our “nation’s air pollution tailpipe,” receiving wind-blown pollution from coal-fired plants in other states. She said reduction of harmful air pollutants is critical for public health, particularly in Maine, which has one of the highest rates of asthma in the nation. Setting controls for mercury, one of the most persistent and dangerous pollutants, is especially important for children and pregnant women, Collins said. She said “there is no doubt” that the greenhouse gases driving climate change pose a significant threat to Maine’s economy and natural resources. Collins mentioned that opposition to Pruitt expressed by the Friends of Acadia helped influence her decision. Friends of Acadia, with about 5,000 members nationwide, wrote a letter to Collins about the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the negative effect those emissions are having on a national gem – Acadia National Park. “I reject the ...

Republican Reps Are Afraid To Go Home And Epa Nominee Scott Pruitt Continues To Be Bad

... Environmental Protection Agency, is “environmentalists’ worst nightmare.” That’s actually a kind description! [ Grist ]. EPA staffers don’t even want Pruitt. [ Huffington Post ]. Pruitt joins an increasingly long list of bad men. This list also includes Bill Maher who, among his many stupid ideas, defended booking Milo Yiannopoulos on his show. Those two will surely have a very interesting and intellectual conversation. Congrats to Jeremy Scahill, best known as the only journalist with a fannish teen Tumblr devoted to him, for refusing to join the spectacle. [ The Hill ]. Alex Acosta, Donald Trump’s new nominee for Labor Secretary, is also bad. His record on civil rights seems ripped from the Jeff Sessions playbook. [ The Atlantic , Miami New Times ]. Michael Anton, a White House national security staffer, fancies himself a fashion critic ...

Mccain To Skip Pruitt Confirmation Vote

... learning the military plane's departure would be delayed. “I have been going to this conference for 40 years, and I told them months ago that I was going,” said Mc Cain, who is leading the congressional delegation. “I have a speech to give tomorrow at the conference that I was committed,” said Mc Cain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Everybody else is going after the vote.”. Mc Cain’s decision to skip the vote is not expected to affect the outcome. Only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, has said she will vote against Pruitt, leaving Republicans with 50 votes given Mc Cain’s expected absence. By Josh Dawsey and Marianne Le Vine. They will be joined by two red-state Democrats: Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, both of whom are up for re-election in 2018. Manchin and Heitkamp joined Republicans to advance Pruitt’s nomination on the floor, and attended President Donald Trump’s Thursday signing ...

After Advancing Scott Pruitt Confirmation, Senator Heads Over To Energy Lobbyist Fundraiser

... Several of Pruitt’s lawsuits and letters to regulators, a New York Times investigation found, were drafted with language provided to him by industry lobbyists. Jody Gale and Joe Vacapoli, two lobbyists from Farragut Partners, were seen arriving at the Barrasso fundraiser together. Former Rep. Ed Whitfield, a Kentucky Republican who resigned in disgrace after mounting ethics scandals , joined the firm last year, and was also at the event with Barrasso. Farragut Partners represents Energy Future Holdings and Southern Company, two utilities that rely heavily on coal-fueled power plants and have clashed with environmental regulators. Another lobbyist, Conrad Lass , who represents the trade group for Chevron and Exxon Mobil, was listed on the event invitation as a host. Barrasso, the new chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has — like Pruitt — advanced oil and gas industry agenda items by moving to block environmental regulations. Records compiled by the Center for Responsive ...

Senate Confirms Scott Pruitt As Epa Head Over Democratic Objections

... Press reported Friday. The document called for "the unprecedented militarization of immigration enforcement as far north as Portland, Oregon, and as far east as New Orleans, Louisiana." White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the memo was "not a White House document," while a DHS official confirmed the document's existence but said the plan was "never seriously considered," characterizing it as a "very early" draft created before Trump's inauguration. AP reports the draft was passed around by DHS employees as recently as a month ago. Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to AP's requests for comment before publication. Read the memo in full here , courtesy of AP. Senate confirms Scott Pruitt as EPA head over Democratic objections. The Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee for the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, 52-46 on Friday. Two Democrats crossed party lines to vote for Pruitt: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (N. D.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (W. Va.). One Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), did not vote for Pruitt. Many Democrats had fiercely opposed Pruitt's nomination, boycotting a ...

Senate Confirms Scott Pruitt To Lead Environmental Protection Agency

... winners and losers in the last few years, especially under President Obama, the losers mostly being farmers, ranchers, oil and gas, industry basically. So I think it's fair to say that he's going to try to ease regulations for those groups. I asked that question, though. What can he do to a lot of former EPA officials and administrators? Here's the answer I got from Tracey Woodruff, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who worked at the EPA under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. TRACEY WOODRUFF: They could defund certain programs that they don't like. They could try and identify things that they think are not useful, go after staff that they think are in - working in areas that they don't agree with. ROTT: And her list keeps going and going and going, so really there's a lot of things. MCEVERS: I mean, so will Pruitt be able to eliminate entire programs at the EPA? I mean, President Trump in the past has even talked about getting rid of ...

Pruitt Ok'd As Epa Chief Over Environmentalists' Objections

... recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act, a federal measure opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater. Pruitt submitted his resignation as attorney general to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday. Pruitt's supporters cheered his confirmation, hailing the 48-year-old Republican lawyer as the ideal pick to roll back environmental regulations they say are a drag on the nation's economy. "EPA has made life hard for families all across America," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "The agency has issued punishing regulations that caused many hardworking Americans to lose their jobs. Mr. Pruitt will bring much needed change.". The vote was 52-46 as Republican leaders used their party's narrow Senate majority to push Pruitt's confirmation despite calls from top Democrats to delay the vote until requested emails are released next week. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the lone Republican vote against Pruitt. Two ...

Sen. Susan Collins Says She Will Vote Against Scott Pruitt, Trump's Epa Nominee

... tenure as Oklahoma's attorney general filing lawsuits against the EPA "on numerous issues that are of great importance to the state of Maine," from regulations on mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants to efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and cross-state air pollution. "His actions leave me with considerable doubts about whether his vision for the EPA is consistent with the Agency's critical mission to protect human health and the environment," Collins wrote. Environmental advocacy groups, which have maintained a relentless campaign against Pruitt's nomination, were quick to praise the news Wednesday. "Senator Collins has made a courageous decision that puts the health and safety of Maine's citizens above politics and policy," Fred Krupp, head of the Environmental Defense Fund , said in a statement. Still, Collins appears to be the only defection from the Republican Senate majority that is expected to vote in favor of Pruitt's confirmation as ...

Scott Pruitt Withholds Thousands Of Emails Likely Concealing Ties To Fossil Fuel Corporations

... related to an open record request submitted by Center for Media and Democracy in 2015. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.— Faced with a February 16 court hearing on the Center for Media and Democracy's (CMD) lawsuit to force Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to turn over records of his communications with fossil fuel giants and other polluters, Pruitt's office finally responded to the first of CMD's nine outstanding Open Records Act requests. After analyzing the response, however, CMD has determined that the AG's office provided just 411 of the more than 3,000 emails they earlier said they had located, withholding thousands of emails relevant to the request. CMD, represented by Robert Nelon , of Hall Estill, and the ACLU of Oklahoma , has filed a status report with the judge detailing the scope of missing documents, including 27 emails that were previously turned over to the New York Times in 2014. Pruitt's office has yet to respond to CMD's eight other ...