‘Super Polluting’ Trucks Receive Loophole on Pruitt’s Last Day

We are rid of Scott Pruitt being employed by our government spending every day enriching himself and destorying our country to benefit his donors.  But so much damage as been done as shown on our Environment page, including something on his LAST day.

In the final hours of Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator, the Environmental Protection Agency moved to grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel freight truck that produces as much as 55 times the air pollution as trucks that have modern emissions controls.

The move by the E.P.A. came after intense lobbying by a small set of manufacturers that sell glider trucks, which use old engines built before new technologies significantly reduced emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxide that are blamed for asthma, lung cancer and other ailments.

The shift in agency policy came quietly late Friday [July 6, 2018], the last day of work for Mr. Pruitt, who resigned after several ethics scandals.

Yes, one last favor to a small group that paid him off.

It was just as strongly opposed by an unusual alliance of public health groups like the American Lung Association, environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and major industry players like United Parcel Service, the largest truck fleet owner, and Volvo Group, one of the largest truck manufacturers.

His successor Andrew Wheeler will continue his evil work while staying out of the headlines.  So infuriating.

The rollback was immediately condemned by environmental groups, which have appealed to the White House to block the E.P.A. from creating the loophole. They noted that the effort to reduce air pollution caused by diesel trucks had been embraced by Democratic and Republican administrations for nearly two decades.

Vickie Patton, the general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, blamed both Mr. Pruitt and Andrew Wheeler, the No. 2 official at the E.P.A. who will become its acting administrator.

“Pruitt and Wheeler are creating a loophole for super polluting freight trucks that will fill our children’s lungs with toxic diesel pollution, ignoring public comments from moms and leading businesses across the country,” she said.

Mr. Pruitt had championed the rollback, claiming that the E.P.A. did not have the legal authority to force companies like Fitzgerald to significantly reduce production of glider trucks. But that move came only after Fitzgerald donated tens of thousands of dollars to Representative Diane Black, Republican of Tennessee, who is a candidate for governor there, and who asked Mr. Pruitt to reverse the rule. 

THIS IS THE SWAMP.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/us/glider-trucks-loophole-pruitt.html