Environment

Scott Pruitt has called for the dissolution of much of the EPA, yet now runs the Environmental Protection Agency.  He is a seasoned legal opponent of the agency and is incredibly effective tool for Trump and Republican efforts to dismantle regulations on climate change and clean water and "get rid" of the agency.  Pruitt and the White House are waging a war against science, safety, and common sense in order to benefit their favored corporate interests.

A new directive hidden between Christmas and New Years Eve has been uncovered.  It represents the yet another attempt by Trump's political appointees to change government spending by bringing politics into grant funding for important research.  While they claim they're seeking to curb potentially wasteful spending, they are in fact stopping research whose results they and their donors would dislike.

BE SMART ABOUT is our unfortunate series highlighting examples of those in power who you need to stay informed about so you can share this knowledge and together we can Be Smart and Actively Dissent.

Today we discuss P. Daniel Smith, assumed the Interior Department's deputy director position on January 8, 2018.  Dan has a pretty incredible past -- being pushed out of his prior position at the National Park Service for a violation written up by the Inspector General.  You'd think that should disqualify him but under Trump he's a perfect fit.

The following three moves were rolled out purposely around Chrstimas to avoid media coverage.  They are blatently unpopular actions that harm our environment for the unjust benefit of corporations and people who donate immensely to Trump and Republicans.  The Washington Post article linked below lists seven others the disgraceful administration slid through as well.

Just before Christmas, some terrible policy decisions were enacted which have just started to come to light.  This is another upsetting, inexplicable, and indefensible one.

The Interior Department.... issued a secretarial order just before Christmas rescinding several climate change and conservation policies issued under the Obama administration, saying they were “inconsistent” with Trump’s quest....

The oil and gas industries, enormous donors to (and owners of) Trump and the Republican Party, are ecstatic about some late-2017 deregulation that didn't hit the media cycle at all.  While a plan to vastly expand offshore drilling was unveiled in early January, they already had some terrible things to celebrate at the end of 2017.

Sometimes there are no words to explain and the headline says it all.  Let's just get right to it about Albert Kelly, who we all need to Be Smart About.

The EPA has tasked a banker who was banned from the banking industry for life with oversight of the nation’s Superfund program.

The Environmental Protection Agency has tasked a banker who was banned from the banking industry for life with oversight of the nation’s Superfund program.

In April 2017, Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at ending the ban on offshore drilling in certain areas.  Smart Dissent painfully covered that here.  In late June, Trump spoke again on the topic (see here), claiming that progress is being made to make his "vision" a reality and sell our environment to the highest bidder.  

While Trump campaigned to "drain the swamp," in practice he's done the opposite, filling his administration with people who hate the existence of the department they run. Is this case, we have the Department of Agriculture being filled not necessarily by people who despise the USDA, but rather by people who have no idea what the USDA is nor any qualifications to work there.

While Trump has achieved few legislative victories, his administration is succeeding in broadly decimating federal regulation. After 16 years of efforts, our government’s portable-generator rule to prevent deaths was nearly finalized — and now a Trump-appointee will ensure that never happens.