US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt is the latest member of Donald Trump's inner circle to be summarily fired. But not, unfortunately, for the right reasons.
Pruitt, who is a climate change denier, and who made his name mainly by taking the EPA to court, was, at the time, a surprise nomination to the EPA (although in retrospect, it falls entirely within Trump's MO, and his obsession with deregulation, anti-environmentalism and the systematic undoing of any of the good things Barack Obama did for the country). Here are just some of the reasons why Pruitt (and his beliefs) were always gping to be a bad match for his position.
The reason he was fired, though, is nothing to do with the contrariness of having a climate-denying coal enthusiast leading the federal institution that is supposed to be improving the American environment (Environmental PROTECTION Agency, remember?). Here is a reasonably good, even if not comprehensive, analysis of some of the damage Pruitt has wreaked on the American and worldwide environment during his short term at the EPA.
No, he was essentially pushed out because he had racked up too many ethics investigations over spending abuses, iffy business travel, and his cozy relationship with various lobbyists, as well as his intervention in helping his wife to a fast food franchise. The last straw may have been his stated desire to replace Jeff Sessions in the Justice Department (not the ambitiousness of it, just the fact that his ambitions were made public - this kind of finagling is supposed to go on behind closed doors). Basically, he was starting to make Trump's own PR machine uncomfortable, and that obviously takes precedence over personal loyalty, common sense, and the good of the country.
No, he was essentially pushed out because he had racked up too many ethics investigations over spending abuses, iffy business travel, and his cozy relationship with various lobbyists, as well as his intervention in helping his wife to a fast food franchise. The last straw may have been his stated desire to replace Jeff Sessions in the Justice Department (not the ambitiousness of it, just the fact that his ambitions were made public - this kind of finagling is supposed to go on behind closed doors). Basically, he was starting to make Trump's own PR machine uncomfortable, and that obviously takes precedence over personal loyalty, common sense, and the good of the country.
Pruitt's replacement in this key position will be the current deputy leader of the Agency, Andrew Wheeler, who is - go figure! - a climate change-denying former coal lobbyist, who according to some, may be an even worse choice than Pruitt.
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