How Much Damage Could Scott Pruitt Really Do at EPA?
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603582/how-much-damage-could-scott-pruitt-really-do-at-epa/[font face=Serif][font size=5]How Much Damage Could Scott Pruitt Really Do at EPA?[/font]
[font size=4]Donald Trumps choice for EPA director would put at risk the nations ability to meet its Paris climate commitments.[/font]
by James Temple | February 8, 2017
[font size=3]The Senate is expected to confirm Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency as early as this week, placing him in charge of a government body that he sued
more than a dozen times and that his new boss, President Donald Trump,
pledged to scrap.
Public statements and leaked documents indicate that Pruitt and the administration will move to narrow the agencys authority, slash staff, and stall efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. We dont know exactly what Mr. Pruitt will do, says Chris Field, director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. But certainly his history is one of doubting climate science and pushing the short-term interests of fossil-fuel development.
Pruitt is likely to target a series of environmental standards put into place under President Obama, including the Clean Power Plan and higher fuel economy standards for vehicles. Rolling back those regulations would make it increasingly difficult for the nation to meet its already ambitious commitments to the landmark Paris climate agreement.
But Pruitt wont be able to force through these changes without a fight. Scaling back most of these rules, which are grounded in hard-won legal battles and well-established climate science, would require protracted public review and almost certain challenges in court.
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