Monday, March 19, 2018

Greed and lies. Now Pruitt adds hate to the EPA's agenda.



From the beginning, everyone knew, and yet nobody was denying it, Scott Pruitt was the absolute worst choice to become Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Mainly, it is his track record as Attorney General of Oklahoma that made him uniquely unqualified to sit in that seat:  He sued the EPA several times, seeking regulatory freedom for the oil and gas industries.  Pruitt opposed anything, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Power Act, anything that would allow the oil and gas industries, which donated heavily to his campaign to become their lawyer, free reign to pollute our atmosphere, water and soil. 

His greed has been apparent for a long time, and still, he does nothing to deny it. 

Now he has added another evil, hate, to his greed and lies. 

Last week, twenty eight senators, including Ben Cardin and Chris VanHollen of Maryland, sent a letter to Pruitt urging him not to roll back restrictions on the use of dangerous pesticides by young workers, i.e. youngsters under the age of 18.  According to the Huffington Post, the American Farm Bureau lobbied the TEPA after the EPA under Obama finalized these rules.  They argued that the regulations were too tight, probably because minors tend to work cheaper than adults.  Since immediate family members are exempted from those rules, it is likely the opponents to these rules are wanting to hire young workers who might be migrants who speak little if any English and do not understand their rights. 

This attack on children’s health comes as no surprise for anyone watching Pruitt and the TEPA.  Back in May 2015, Pruitt delayed the ban of chlorpyrifos, an insecticide that exposure to which causes health problems in young children, especially between the ages of 2-3.  Pruitt has moved the decision on the ban back to 2022.  His excuse?  He says there “continue to be considerable areas of uncertainty” and he was “returning to sound science in decision-making rather than predetermined results”.  Pruitt does not give any clarity of what he has determined to be “sound science”.  Accusing an institution like Columbia University of falsifying data and information is just deplorable.  Sound familiar?

Apparently, Pruitt made this decision after a brief meeting with Dow Agro Sciences LLC, the manufacturer of the insecticide.  And still he claims that he doesn’t meet with polluters.  There is no basis for delaying this ban.

When it comes to the health of our children, we should always err on the side of caution and nothing is too safe for our children.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/senators-rebuke-epa-plan-to-let-kids-handle-pesticides-again_us_5aa943f5e4b0f7a689ce9b11

http://alan-scott.blogspot.com/2017/05/our-children-are-doomedpruitts-epa.html



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