2018-07-06

Pruitt fucks off

As every man and his dog has noted, Scott Pruitt is now the late and unlamented ex-head of the US environment agency. The Mango Mussolini praises him for doing an outstanding job; Pruitt's resignation letter reciprocates with brown-nosing and god-bothering. I don't feel any great inclination to examine his record... but is that a mistake? As near as I can tell he resigned for a string of ethics scandals, but what about his actual job and record? EOS notes that environmentalists will be happy he is gone, but also their support of WOTUS, which seems well dodgy. Those who dislike rule-by-regulation seem to have somewhat different views.

His replacement, Andrew Wheeler, seems likely to continue much the same policies, but more efficiently, and without the taint of ethics violations.

Refs


* Trump and science: malice or indifference? - a brief discussion of RP Jr on Pruitt from which he does not emerge well.
* Trump's EPA pick will make Obama regret his environmental overreach?
* If you keep hearing a dog whistle, perhaps you are the dog
* Brexit Secretary David Davis resigns
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9 comments:

  1. Phil06/07/2018, 23:01

    Have you considered with Brexit breaking the links with Europe, Britain will be more reliant on the favors of Mr Trump?

    Looking forward to the change?

    ReplyDelete
  2. William M. Connolley07/07/2018, 06:42

    No-one sane would wish to be reliant on Trump, who is unreliable. As to Brexit, watching our embarrassingly incompetent govt, and the scarcely less incompetent EU, trying to negotiate is embarrassing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Andy Mitchell07/07/2018, 09:57

    As a former (and far too recent) coal lobbyist, Wheeler comes with ethics violations preinstalled.

    ReplyDelete
  4. William M. Connolley07/07/2018, 15:49

    I'm not at all sure I agree with that. Pruitt had a sense of personal sleaze that diminished the govt, and to some extent distracted from criticism of his actions. AW doesn't have to stay a coal lobbyist if he doesn't want to.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Phil08/07/2018, 17:00

    Do enjoy the Six Million Dollar round of golf.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/05/trump-set-for-a-6-million-round-of-golf-scotland.html

    Will it be televised?

    ReplyDelete
  6. THE CLIMATE WARS08/07/2018, 19:17

    Former state Attorney General Pruitt could end up back in the swamp as a Senator, if he stays out of jail.

    He is an avatar of a great Western legal tradition.

    The one that gave Hollywood Deadwood , The Man ho Shot Liberty Valence, and There Will Be Blood.

    https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2018/07/norks-nominate-pruitt-resignation.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Phil09/07/2018, 14:29

    How about a comment on this?

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/09/uk-foreign-minister-boris-johnson-resigns-as-brexit-tensions-persist.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. William M. Connolley09/07/2018, 20:22

    I've added an image to the post that might clarify things :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Phil24/08/2018, 17:10

    Oh, what is the cost of carbon?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/climate/social-cost-carbon.html

    Don't consider damages to others, others don't count.
    Set a high discount rate. The people in the future doesn't count as well.

    So then $1 a ton. Or maybe as much as $7 a ton. Depending mostly on discount rate.

    ReplyDelete