If climate denier libertarian fool Myron Ebell was a canker sore on the body politic after being named by Trump to staff the EPA, then Trump's actual pick of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt amounts to a full blown case of Ebola. The guy, from any perspective, is a freaking disaster and yet one more reason state electors need to show Trump the door on December 19th.
As with other Trump picks, including Betsy DeVos at the Dept. of Education and Ben "Who Am I?" Carson for Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, we now have a clear picture that all of them are designated to destroy the agencies to which they've been appointed. The other pick of fast food cheapskate Putz-der to run the Dept. of Labor - a guy dedicated to lowering wages not raising them- ought to be a warning shot across the bow of any working stiffs who actually thought Trump had their best interests at heart. They are now having buyer's remorse, or should, given Trump no more cares about their lives than the dogs abandoned at the kennel waiting to be put down.
Pruitt himself redefines what it means to be an asshole. He has, for example, written that the debate on climate change is "far from settled" when, in fact, numerous surveys of actual climate scientists (not paid whores) show it's as settled as it's ever going to be. Specifically, I've referenced the scientific consensus on global warming reported in Eos Transactions, Vol. 90, No. 3, p. 22, by P. T. Doran and M. Kendall-Zimmerman found that (p. 24) :
“the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely non-existent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes.”
In their analytic survey for which 3146 climate and Earth scientists responded, a full 96.2% of specialists concurred temperatures have steadily risen and there is no evidence for cooling. Meanwhile, 97.4% concur there is a definite role of humans in global climate change.
The authors concluded (p. 24) :
“The challenge appears to be how to effectively communicate this fact (non-existent debate among real climate specialists) to policy makers and a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate exists among scientists”
The problem, of course, is that so long as pseudo-climate scientists (like Willie Soon) are given large header displays and article space in the likes of The Wall Street Journal, this perception problem will continue and many people will mistake the views of these pretenders for those of actual climate scientists.
What Pruitt represents then, is yet another rat guarding the gov't cheese stores, who will soon be devouring all of them on his own. Plus, the future planet he will leave on offer via his despicable policy decisions will have ramifications over generations.
Some of the other Pruitt "achievements" for those who might wonder why he was picked (hint: assholes are attracted to assholes):
- He joined other state AGs to sue the EPA over its Clean Power Plan
- He also joined other knuckle dragger AGs opposing EPA plans to curtail methane emissions. In case you didn't know, methane is an even more intense greenhouse gas than CO2, see e.g.
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2015/05/methane-release-increases-because-of.html
- On his linked in page this climate assassin has boasted of "being a leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda". Transl. He is quite happy to see your grand kids choke to death on mercury pumped from coal fired utilities or burned up in the runaway greenhouse, and oceans filled with only jellyfish.
- A self-declared ally of the Energy industry Pruitt, along with Alabama AG Luther Strange, came to the defense of Exxon even as they were preparing documents that tried to minimize climate threats, acknowledging in their own documents the threats were real, e.g. see all 340 pages of the 'Climate Deception Dossiers' here:
www.ucsusa.org/decadesofdeception
Pruitt's being a whore and a hack for the fossil fuel industry isn't the least bit surprising. Indeed, his outlook of "drill, baby drill and let the world burn" reflects the regressive zeitgeist of his home state, Oklahoma. That state - which has now recorded more fracking -generated earthquakes than any other (no surprise) - ranked fifth in the nation in onshore crude oil output in 2014. You can believe Pruitt knows what side his fracking oil is slathered on.
The semi-good news (Denver Post, p. 16A, Dec. 8th) is that "environmental groups are mobilizing and saying they'll urge senators to vote against Pruitt's nomination." But they need to do much more: they need to bombard Dem Senators with actual letters and phone calls given the EPA stands as the last battlement to be bridged before the climate deniers and their sorry ilk hurl this planet into perdition.
There'll be no turning back. And short of enough moral electors (including D-electors in Trump "won" states) showing Trump the door, the last fight will be for Senate confirmation and Dems must ensure it doesn't happen. Use the damned filibuster like the Repukes did when they blocked everything Obama tried. One good, obstructive turn deserves another!
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