TOP PRUITT HEADLINES

 

EPA Bars Reporters From Summit On Politically Toxic Chemicals.

 

EPA Reverses Course, Lets Reporters Into Hearing After Outcry.

 

White House To 'Look Into' Incident Involving EPA Turning Away Reporters.

 

Dem Senator Presses EPA Over Reporter 'Intimidation.'

 

Pruitt Spent At Least $9,600 On Office Decor, Desks: Email.

 

Pruitt Holds Closed-Door Hill Policy Session.

 

 

OTHER TOP HEADLINES

 

Former Trump Aide Targets ‘Activist’ Climate Investors.

 

Air Pollution Near Power Plants Tied To Premature Births.

 

 

 

Federal Agencies

 

EPA

 

Meet The Man Helping Pruitt Reshape Science. According to E&E News, “One of Scott Pruitt’s most enduring legacies may be the way he curtailed EPA’s use of science. He didn’t do it alone. Richard Yamada is a quiet force behind Pruitt’s effort to add industry voices to agency advisory boards, sideline some research used to craft regulations, and debate climate science. Yamada, the deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development, is an applied mathematician with a Ph.D. from Cornell University who started in Washington as a fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Now, he’s working on sweeping changes to the way EPA uses science. Critics, including AAAS, say it will block the agency from using valid research when developing rules to limit pollution. Yamada is also a bridge between EPA and Rep. Lamar Smith, the Texas Republican who heads the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. The panel generated many of the controversial science reform ideas adopted by Pruitt. Yamada worked on those initiatives as a congressional staffer before coming to EPA. Yamada’s role was revealed through emails and public schedules obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Union of Concerned Scientists and Natural Resources Defense Council.” [E&E News, 5/23/18 (=)]

 

Former CASAC Chairmen Fault Pruitt For Not Consulting On NAAQS Reform. According to Inside EPA, “Two former chairmen of EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) are faulting Administrator Scott Pruitt for not consulting with the independent panel before issuing his memo on overhauling the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) review process, and faulting plans to include costs as a factor in reviews. Air quality researcher Jonathan Samet, a former CASAC chairman, told Inside EPA in a recent interview that he was not consulted by the agency on Pruitt’s memo -- despite the document citing a Samet quote from several years ago as part of its broader justification for steps to simplify and accelerate the often-delayed NAAQS process. Pruitt’s May 9 memo puts the ongoing reviews of the ozone and particulate matter (PM) NAAQS on a fast track to completion in 2020, after years of EPA failing to meet a Clean Air Act mandate that it review its six NAAQS every five years. The memo announces a ‘streamlined’ review process that will collapse three currently separate steps in the review process into one, which could limit CASAC’s potential input. Describing the need to speed up NAAQS reviews, Pruitt cites a December 2008 letter from Samet -- then chairman of CASAC -- to George W. Bush EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson saying, ‘any slippage in schedules’ for key steps in the standards review process ‘may jeopardize the quality of CASAC’s input.’” [Inside EPA, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Chemicals Summit

 

Media

 

White House To 'Look Into' Incident Involving EPA Turning Away Reporters. According to The Hill, “The White House said Tuesday it would ‘look into’ an incident earlier in the day where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) barred reporters from entering an agency hearing. ‘Certainly we’ll look into the matter. I know EPA has put out a statement, at this point I’d refer you to them as we look into the incident,’ White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday’s press briefing. ‘I can’t speak to a situation I don’t have a lot of visibility into,’ she added. Sanders was pressed later in the briefing on whether she felt it would ever be acceptable to physically turn away reporters, as the EPA did to one journalist. ‘I’m not going to weigh into random hypotheticals that may or may not exist,’ she said. ‘I don’t know any information about this specific incident. You’re asking me to speak to blanket possibilities, which I’m not going to do.’” [The Hill, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Dem Senator Presses EPA Over Reporter 'Intimidation.' According to The Hill, “Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt after a number of media outlets pushed back on the agency on Tuesday, with at least one reporter saying she was forcibly removed from the EPA’s chemical summit. ‘This intimidation of journalists seeking to cover a federal official presiding over important policy-making is unacceptable,’ Udall, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for the EPA, wrote in his letter. Udall went on to urge Pruitt to take a number of steps to rectify the situation, including making a public apology to The Associated Press reporter who said she was forcibly removed from the event. ‘Publicly explain and apologize to the excluded media organizations, particularly the AP journalist who was grabbed and shoved,’ Udall wrote. ‘[And] [d]irect EPA staff to allow unbiased press access to EPA events and announcements in the future to ensure information that belongs to the public can get to the public.’ Journalists from CNN, the AP and E&E News were barred from attending the two-day-long event Tuesday before the agency reversed course following outcry.” [The Hill, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Following Up. According to Politico, “Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told reporters she is ‘not totally pleased’ with EPA’s response to the blocked release of a health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis and would be following up with agency later this week after a national summit on the issue. ‘I think the health study that HHS put forward needs to be released,’ she said. ‘I want to have the full information and I want to find out what kind of levels are acceptable and then remediate the problems.’ And does she think Pruitt can adequately respond to her concerns? ‘Time will tell, honestly,’ she said. — Separately, Sen. Tom Udall demanded to know why EPA tried to bar reporters from Tuesday’s session — a decision that was eventually reversed a few hours later. Udall sent a letter to Administrator Scott Pruitt to express concern over EPA’s ‘disturbing treatment’ of journalists. ‘This intimidation of journalists seeking to cover a federal official presiding over important policy-making is un-American and unacceptable,’ Udall wrote, calling on Pruitt to apologize to reporters.” [Politico, 5/23/18 (=)]

 

The Worst, Most Thuggish Trump Official Just Had A Reporter Violently Ejected From A Government Forum. According to Slate, “Because lists of Pruitt’s ongoing corruption scandals have been done to death, here is a list of Pruitt lists published by the organizations that were banned on Tuesday: • Last month, CNN published a story listing 14 specific ‘controversies and allegations’ about Pruitt’s tenure in office. • Last month, the AP published a story describing and listing Pruitt’s responses to congressional investigators’ questions about his various scandals. • Last November, E&E News uncovered and published a list of how Pruitt was remaking the Scientific Advisory Board in his industry-friendly, Earth-antagonistic image. In its reporting on the water contaminants summit that it was barred from, the AP noted that ‘Pruitt has faced criticism in recent weeks over emails showing the EPA sought to intervene in a critical study on the contaminants.’ Also on Monday, it was reported that Pruitt was planning to roll back Obama-era safeguards taken in the aftermath of a 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, that killed 15 people.” [Slate, 5/22/18 (+)]

 

EPA Reverses Course, Lets Reporters Into Hearing After Outcry. According to The Hill, “In a reversal following media outcry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would allow all representatives from the media to attend the second half of a chemical summit that previously barred all press. An EPA spokesperson announced Tuesday afternoon that media will now be able to attend in person the later portion of the National Leadership Summit on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) being held at EPA. ‘EPA is opening the second portion of today PFAS Leadership Summit to press. The first portion was available via livestream,’ the spokesperson said in a statement. ‘This will start at 1 p.m and last until 5:30 p.m. and you can enter via the East Entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue NW.’ The decision follows immense media scrutiny over the EPA’s limitation of reporters allowed to cover an hour of its chemical summit Tuesday morning — including one reporter who says she was forcibly removed from the event. … Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) tweeted, ‘Dear @EPAScottPruitt: What are you afraid of the public finding out about water contamination?’ Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) also tweeted about the reports: ‘#PollutingPruitt has no interest in transparency. These reporters have every right to attend this summit on contaminants. #BootPruitt’” [The Hill, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

EPA Reverses Media Ban At Summit On Toxic Chemicals. According to Politico, “The Environmental Protection Agency temporarily barred journalists and the public from a national summit Tuesday addressing toxic chemicals contamination in drinking water, a week after top agency officials’ effort to delay publication of a study on those chemicals came to light. EPA later reversed course and said it would allow reporters to attend the afternoon sessions of the summit, three hours after initially ejecting the media. But that didn’t reassure activists from the communities that have been exposed to the chemicals, known as PFAS, who were allowed little access to the summit. The White House plans to ‘look into the matter,’ press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at the briefing later Tuesday. But activists from the communities that have been exposed to the chemicals, known as PFAS, were still granted little access to the summit. ‘Last week, we learned that the EPA suppressed a PFAS study,’ Kristen Mello, co-founder of Westfield Residents Advocating For Themselves in Westfield, Mass, said in statement. ‘This week, they’re convening a summit on PFAS, and, out of millions affected, only one of us is allowed to attend on only one day to bear witness. How are we supposed to trust anything about this?’” [Politico, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Three Reporters Are Turned Away From An E.P.A. Event. According to The New York Times, “The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday barred reporters from three news organizations from an event on the impact of toxic chemicals on drinking water at the agency’s headquarters. The event, during which the E.P.A. administrator Scott Pruitt declared that addressing the impact of a class of man-made chemicals was a ‘national priority,’ came at a time when Mr. Pruitt is the subject of at least 12 federal investigations. Among those denied entry from the morning session of the planned two-day event was a reporter from The Associated Press, Ellen Knickmeyer. When she requested to speak to an E.P.A. public affairs official, she was ‘grabbed by the shoulders and shoved out of the building by a security guard,’ according to a report from the wire service. Also turned away were Corbin Hiar, a reporter for E & E News, and Rene Marsh, of CNN, along with a camera operator and a producer from the cable network.” [The New York Times, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

EPA Bars Reporters From Summit On Politically Toxic Chemicals. According to E&E News, “‘The process needs to begin,’ Pruitt said. ‘The determination of an MCL is something that we will begin in earnest post this meeting, and I look forward to your contribution to that very important issue in the next day and a half.’ Pruitt also committed the agency to developing groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFAS ‘by the fall of this year.’ Those will help guide the remediation of several Superfund sites and other areas contaminated by the chemicals. A related promise is to start ‘the necessary steps ... to declare PFAS, PFOA as a hazardous substance,’ Pruitt said. That would allow EPA to hold companies liable for polluting lands and waters with those chemicals. Finally, the administrator said EPA is ‘going to take action in close collaboration with our federal and state partners to develop toxicity values for GenX and PFBS,’ two other types of PFAS. ‘That should be done by December of this year.’ After the summit is concluded, top EPA officials plan to visit Michigan, New Hampshire and other states affected by PFAS contamination. A study released today from the nonprofit Environmental Working Group estimates that more than 1,500 drinking water systems, serving up to 110 million customers across the country, may be contaminated with PFOA, PFOS and similar chemicals.” [E&E News, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Media Push Back Against EPA Limiting Reporters At Chemical Summit. According to The Hill, “Corbin Hair, a reporter for E&E News, tweeted that he was not told why the reporters were ‘selectively’ shut out of the meeting. ‘This morning’s PFAS Leadership Summit at @EPA headquarters is open to the press... just not to reporters from @EENewsUpdates, @AP or @CNN. We’ve all asked the agency’s press office why we’re being selectively shut out and have gotten no responses,’ he tweeted. AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer tweeted that the group of reporters were turned away at the door. ‘The @AP, @CNN and E&E all showed up to cover this @EPA meeting on widespread, dangerous contaminants in many drinking water systems around the country. We were all turned away at the door of the EPA building.’ … The AP later reported that guards blocked their reporter from entrance and grabbed the reporter by her shoulders to remove her from the building after she asked to speak to an EPA public affairs spokesperson. When asked about the reporter’s removal, an EPA spokesperson at first cited space constraints. ‘This was simply an issue of the room reaching capacity, which reporters were aware of prior to the event. We were able to accommodate 10 news outlets and provided a livestream for those we could not accommodate.’ EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement. However, a handful of assigned reporter seats remained vacant by the time Pruitt began speaking, including one for a Wall Street Journal reporter who decided to watch the event via the livestream instead.” [The Hill, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

EPA Boots Reporters From Summit On Toxic Chemicals. According to Politico, “The Environmental Protection Agency barred journalists and the public from today’s national summit on its plans to address toxic chemicals contaminating drinking water — despite Administrator Scott Pruitt’s statements that the issue is one of his top priorities. A small group of journalists including a POLITICO reporter were permitted to attend Pruitt’s opening remarks at the event at EPA’s headquarters where federal and state regulators gathered with business organizations and environmental groups. But those journalists were escorted out shortly after — and other news organizations, including The Associated Press and CNN, were barred from attending. The closed door meeting comes after POLITICO reported that agency leadership had worked to delay a controversial study on the chemicals that would have showed the substances posed health risks to humans at far lower concentrations that EPA has said. Millions of people across the U.S. are believed to be exposed to the chemicals, PFOA and PFOS, which are used in Teflon and firefighting foam and have been linked to immune disorders, thyroid disease and cancer. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said journalists were excluded from the meeting of about 200 people because of space constraints. ‘The leadership summit quickly reached capacity with a wide variety of stakeholders including” [Politico, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

AP | The Latest: EPA Bars AP, CNN From Summit On Contaminants. According to The Washington Post, “The Environmental Protection Agency is barring The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants. The EPA blocked the news organizations from attending Tuesday’s Washington meeting, convened by EPA chief Scott Pruitt. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told the barred organizations they were not invited and there was no space for them, but gave no indication of why they specifically were barred. Pruitt told about 200 people at the meeting that dealing with the contaminants is a ‘national priority.’ Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.” [The Washington Post, 5/21/18 (=)]

 

General Coverage

 

Pruitt Details Agenda To Address PFAS But Some Steps Will Take Years. According to Inside EPA, “Under pressure from lawmakers, communities and states, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt May 22 announced a multi-media effort to address contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the ubiquitous class of chemicals that are contaminating dozens of sites and water supplies across the country, though some planned actions are likely to take years to complete. Addressing EPA’s ‘National Leadership Summit’ on PFAS May 22, Pruitt said the agency will ‘take the next step’ to evaluate the need for a drinking water standard for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) -- the two most common perfluorinated chemicals -- a step that the Defense Department (DOD) and many states are seeking to provide a consistent national standard. His announcement reiterated a commitment that senior officials have previously made but one they have said is likely to take years to complete. Nevertheless, Pruitt said the formal determination of the need for a maximum contaminant level (MCL) is something the agency would ‘begin in earnest.’ Pruitt said the agency is taking steps to establish liability under the Superfund law for those two chemicals, while also currently developing a groundwater cleanup recommendation for sites contaminated with the two substances.” [Inside EPA, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

EPA Holds Summit On Dangerous Chemicals After Delayed Report. According to The Washington Post, “The Environmental Protection Agency will today hold a day-and-a-half-long summit about how to address a potentially harmful class of chemicals in the drinking water of millions of Americans. But environmental advocates question how serious the Trump administration is about tackling the nationwide problem. As recently as January, EPA staff huddled with chemical industry representatives to discuss a widely used class of commercial chemicals one day after a White House official privately suggested to those officials that an upcoming study on the substances might be a ‘public relations nightmare.’ Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week disclosed the Jan. 31 meeting between the EPA and the American Chemistry Council, raising concerns about whether the chemical industry’s main lobbying group influenced the decision of Trump administration officials to delay publication of a study on polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances — better known as PFAS. But EPA chief Scott Pruitt says that it’s not his job to release the PFAS report, but that of the Health and Human Services Department that conducted it.” [The Washington Post, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

EPA To Formally Consider Drinking Water Regulation Of PFAS. According to Politico, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said this morning that EPA will formally consider whether to set a limit on the amount of the chemicals PFOA and PFOS allowed in drinking water, the first step under the law toward regulation. ‘We will take the next step under the Safe Drinking Water Act process to evaluate the need for a Maximum Contaminant Level for PFOA and PFOS,’ Pruitt said in opening remarks to a two-day summit on the chemicals. ‘It’s something that has been talked about for a number of years. The process needs to begin,’ he said. Under the federal drinking water law, EPA must consider not just the dangers of a contaminant, but also how widespread it is in drinking water supplies and the costs of treating water to remove it before it can set a limit. The agency has not successfully regulated a new contaminant under the law in more than two decades, when Congress placed additional requirements on the agency for setting new regulations. Making a regulatory determination for PFOA and PFOS was one of several steps Pruitt said the agency plans to take on the chemicals. Additionally, he said EPA is developing groundwater cleanup regulations for the two chemicals for contaminated sites, and taking steps to establish liability under the Superfund law so responsible parties can be held liable for cleanup. … WHAT’S NEXT: Pruitt said the agency will travel to affected communities after the summit as it drafts a national management plan for the class of chemicals.” [Politico, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Senior Lawyer Gets Key Chemicals Post. According to E&E News, “Erik Baptist, one of EPA’s top lawyers, is moving elsewhere in the agency. Baptist, a President Trump appointee, will leave EPA’s Office of General Counsel to join its Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, sources tell E&E News. He’ll be senior counsel and a deputy assistant administrator alongside Nancy Beck in the chemicals office. In his new role, Baptist will work to fulfill the requirements of various laws, including new reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Baptist was a senior deputy general counsel in EPA’s legal office. He joined the agency last year from the American Petroleum Institute where he was senior counsel. Baptist, who was registered to lobby for the oil and gas trade group for several years, was given a limited waiver from Trump’s ethics pledge. He received that waiver so he could participate in EPA discussions on the renewable fuel standard.” [E&E News, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Scott Pruitt

 

Outside Views: Pruitt Seen Driving Swing Voter 'Disgust' In Midterms. According to Inside EPA, “A former Clinton White House climate official says EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ongoing ethics and spending scandals represent a major liability for Republicans hoping to hold control of Congress in the 2018 midterm elections, highlighting a potential silver lining for Democrats who have so far been unable to force him out of office. In a May 21 opinion piece at The Hill, Paul Bledsoe -- who was director of communications for the White House Climate Change Task Force under former President Bill Clinton -- writes that the array of scandals surrounding Pruitt, over security spending, ties to lobbyists and alleged retaliation against employees who objected, ‘seems almost calculated to offend moderate voters’ who will be critical to success in the midterms. ‘The president’s theory seems to be that Pruitt’s mission to dismantle environmental protections at EPA and investigations of him will fire up the right-wing base turnout in November. This sounds like wishful thinking. It’s far more likely that headlines about Pruitt’s taxpayer abuses right up to election day will help mobilize college-educated suburban swing voters disgusted by the Trump’s administration’s ethical corruption and rejection of science in favor of polluters,’ writes Bledsoe, who is now a fellow with the Progressive Policy Institute. Congressional Democrats have previously gloated that Pruitt is a symbol of faults in the Trump administration. For instance, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) in an April 7 tweet to President Donald Trump said, ‘Please don’t fire @EPAScottPruitt. He’s such a great symbol of the corruption, fraud, waste & abuse in your Administration.’” [Inside EPA, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Travel and Security Spending

 

Pruitt Spent At Least $9,600 On Office Decor, Desks: Email. According to The Hill, “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt spent at least $9,600 to decorate his personal office with Smithsonian artwork, a refurbished desk and other framed items, according to an internal document obtained by The Hill on Tuesday. EPA paid the Smithsonian Institution $1,950 for labor and delivery charges on three pieces of artwork loaned to Pruitt’s executive office suite and spent over $2,500 to frame items that included a photo of him with President Trump and an American flag. Additionally, the document confirms earlier reports that agency officials paid $2,963 for a standing ‘captain’s’ desk and another $2,075 to refurbish another office desk for the administrator. The costs were tallied in a chart emailed to an EPA staffer in the general counsel’s office last week that was labeled ‘expenses.’ … However, the expenses listed for Pruitt appear to surpass the $5,000 limit set by Congress for redecoration costs. When the costs exceed that amount, an agency must notify lawmakers before authorizing the payment. … The refurbished desk, Wilcox said, was offered to Pruitt by the Office of Administration and Resources Management, which fixed up the desk for Pruitt. The two framed certificates from Pruitt’s confirmation are a standard expenditure for EPA heads, Wilcox said, alluding that they were gifts. He also said one of the paintings, whose labor and care cost EPA $1,200, and the $916.15 American flag were hung in a ‘lobby.’ Wilcox could not specify whether the lobby was part of Pruitt’s office suite.” [The Hill, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Meetings

 

Pruitt Holds Closed-Door Hill Policy Session. According to E&E News, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt met privately yesterday on Capitol Hill with Congressional Western Caucus lawmakers, offering them updates on several policies including Superfund cleanup work and the agency’s standards for science. ‘It was all policy issues, that’s what we deal with,’ said caucus Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who is also a senior member of the House Natural Resources Committee. Gosar called it a ‘very good, bipartisan meeting’ that gave Pruitt a chance to explain to members his goals for water and air oversight. A spokesman for Gosar said the session was over lunch and attracted about 30 members, including the caucus’s sole Democrat, Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon. It ran about 30 minutes. Specific policies discussed were the Clean Water Rule, the Superfund program, the Clean Power Plan, litigation, EPA’s standards for science, the proper relationship between statutory authority and regulatory implementation, and the new Office of Continuous Improvement, the spokesman said. ‘Obviously it was a friendly audience,’ said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), a leader of the Western Caucus. He said Pruitt specifically cited progress that’s being made in cleaning up Superfund sites.” [E&E News, 5/23/18 (=)]

 

Pruitt Opinion Pieces and Analyses

 

Scott Pruitt Op-Ed: Summit, State Visits Will Lead To National Plan To Manage PFAS. According to an op-ed by Scott Pruitt in Detroit Free Press, “EPA is listening to the public’s concerns. We are providing the national leadership necessary to bring together stakeholders to improve our understanding of these chemicals. This week’s summit builds on EPA-issued health advisories for PFOA and PFOS – two specific PFAS chemicals – based on peer-reviewed science, ongoing scientific research and collaboration with our federal and state partners. EPA is also taking action to develop health toxicity values for GenX and PFBS, two additional PFAS chemicals. Together these actions, among others the agency has outlined on its website, will help put the right tools in the hands of our federal, state, local and tribal partners. Through this summit and our ongoing engagement, EPA is forging long-lasting partnerships that will ensure that we make immediate progress on this important issue. Beginning next month, EPA will travel to states to meet directly with communities that have been impacted by PFAS, including locations in Michigan, New Hampshire and Colorado. After these visits, we will take the information we have gleaned from both the summit and our community visits to draft a National PFAS Management Plan. This plan will serve as a clear road map for EPA and our partners to work together to take steps that will benefit our communities, our environment and our nation’s public health. These actions demonstrate my vision for EPA and our commitment to protect public health and ensure all Americans have clean and safe drinking water. EPA is actively engaged with states and communities across the nation so that, from the federal to the local level, we can quickly respond to and address the environmental concerns of the American people. This is cooperative federalism in action. This is good and responsive government.” [Detroit Free Press, 5/22/18 (-)]

 

Op-Ed: Why Did Scott Pruitt’s EPA Ban Reporters From An Event? According to an op-ed by Helaine Olen in The Washington Post, “But it is quite possibly representative of something much larger, a contempt and dislike for the press that has characterized both Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency. This is, after all, not how we do things in the United States — except, apparently in 2018, it is. And we can’t say we weren’t warned. From the beginning of his campaign for president, Trump evinced a frightening contempt for the press. He advocated making it easier to sue journalists and news organizations for libel, and threatened to sue news organizations that produced factually correct reports about his business practices. … As for today’s event, more than 200 people attended the summit on water contaminants. A spokesman for the EPA subsequently claimed there wasn’t space in the room where the event was held to make room for the journalists. Why these journalists weren’t ‘invited’ while others were permitted to attend is also unclear, but Slate helpfully rounded up a list of potentially embarrassing stories to Pruitt broken by the three organizations. … What role did Pruitt play in today’s events? We don’t yet know. But we do know that Pruitt has a less than comfortable relationship with the public. When Pruitt got caught insisting on first-class seating when flying on agency business, his office claimed Pruitt upgraded because of threats. It subsequently emerged that Pruitt felt threatened by ordinary Americans who approached him to complain about policy.” [The Washington Post, 5/23/18 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Scott Pruitt’s Awful Media Office. According to an op-ed by Erik Wemple in The Washington Post, “The number of reviews into the management of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has reached double digits. Those investigations — by auditors, congressional committees and others — are focusing on a number of areas: taxpayer-funded trips around the country and the world, including Italy and Morocco; the use of an around-the-clock security detail; the renting of a Capitol Hill condo from a lobbyist’s wife for $50 a night; email use; approaches to hiring and promoting staffers; and other stuff. In the midst of all this, don’t forget about his treatment of the media. Just this morning, the Associated Press reported that its reporter along with reps from CNN and E&E News were barred from a pivotal summit at the EPA building regarding PFAS, man-made chemicals whose exposure to humans can ‘lead to adverse … health effects.’ Jahan Wilcox told the AP that there was no space for these news organizations at the event. ‘Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building,’ reported the AP. ‘When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.’” [The Washington Post, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Exclusive Poll On Pruitt Shows Public Stance. According to Axios, “Embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has a low approval rating, but substantial swaths of the public don’t have a strong opinion about Pruitt or know much about the ethics controversies surrounding him, according to a HarrisX Overnight Poll commissioned by Axios. Yes, but: The poll also finds that 80% of Americans believe Pruitt should be fired if EPA’s inspector general finds that he misused his position — even if President Trump thinks he’s doing a good job. That signals that even some of Trump’s backers will not stand by Pruitt if the ongoing investigations find there’s fire to go along with the all the smoke at EPA. The big picture: The poll suggests that Pruitt is not a hugely well-known or resonant figure outside the Beltway, despite generating weeks of negative press and waging an aggressive campaign to unwind environmental rules. The EPA boss is facing a suite of Capitol Hill and internal probes over his spending and travel expenses, hiring practices, ties to lobbyists and more. By the numbers, per the poll: Pruitt is viewed favorably by 17% and unfavorably by 22%. But 30% hold neither view, and 32% have never heard of him. Just 21% approve of the job he’s doing at EPA, 25% disapprove, but over half the people surveyed held neither view.” [Axios, 5/23/18 (=)]

 

Judiciary And Legal

 

Friend Of Pruitt Faces Committee. According to Politico, “The Senate Judiciary Committee will hear this morning from a judicial candidate who used to work with Pruitt in the Oklahoma attorney general’s office. Patrick Wyrick, a nominee for U.S. district judge for the Western District of Oklahoma, has drawn fire from liberal groups such as the Alliance for Justice and the League of Conservation Voters over his work as Oklahoma’s solicitor general while Pruitt was fighting federal regulations as AG. Pruitt has called him ‘a superb lawyer’ and ‘a dear friend and trusted counselor.’ — LCV also sent a letter in opposition of another nominee on tap today: Britt Grant to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, for her efforts in part to weaken the Endangered Species Act.” [Politico, 5/23/18 (=)]

 

 

Industry and Finance

 

Former Trump Aide Targets ‘Activist’ Climate Investors. According to Politico, “A former energy adviser to President Donald Trump will head up a new campaign to stop major investors from using shareholder votes to press companies to act on climate change. George David Banks, who left the White House in February, will lead the Main Street Investors Coalition, which is backed by groups like the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation. Banks said he will focus on educating retail investors — the small investors who don’t trade stocks through mutual funds or other major investment organizations — about ‘politically motivated’ resolutions that major investment funds operated by companies like BlackRock or Vanguard are now throwing their considerable weight behind. ‘What political activists have done, because they haven’t been able to achieve what they want in Washington, then they are using the shareholder proposal process as kind of a backdoor way of creating policy,’ Banks said. The new coalition will focus on climate and environmental issues, as well as other shareholder resolutions it views as political, including on gun control, diversity and lobbying disclosure.” [Politico, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

Wind Power Poised For Record Year, Despite Initial Tax Law Concerns. According to Utility Dive, “The number of contracts signed for wind power projects hit a record of 3,500 MW in Q1 2018, according to the American Wind Energy Association, signaling that 2018 should be a strong year for the renewable resource. There are now 33,449 MW of wind projects under construction or in advanced development in the U.S., a 40% increase from last year and the highest level since AWEA began compiling the metric at the beginning of 2016. Despite fears that changes in the tax code would slow wind power development, the tax equity market, the key financing vehicle for wind projects, appears to have adapted and survived intact.” [Utility Dive, 5/21/18 (=)]

 

Opinion Pieces

 

Op-Ed: A County Where The Sewer Is Your Lawn. According to an op-ed by Catherine Flowers in The New York Times, “In Alabama’s Black Belt, along the road from Selma to Montgomery where civil rights activists fought for voting rights, there’s a glaring problem that’s all too often overlooked — a lack of working sewer systems. The Alabama Department of Public Health estimates 40 to 90 percent of homes have either inadequate or no septic system. And half of the septic systems that have been installed aren’t working properly. Many homes here rely on straight PVC pipes that carry waste from houses to open pits and trenches that often overflow during heavy rains, bringing sewage into people’s yards where children play. The situation isn’t much better in towns connected to relatively functioning sewer systems. Heavy rains and floodings, which seem to be intensifying because of climate change, overwhelm weak sewer systems, forcing sewage to back up in people’s homes, and contaminating drinking water. The problem has real effects on people’s health. A 2017 report in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene found that among 55 adults surveyed, 34.5 percent tested positive for hookworms, which thrive in areas of extreme poverty with poor sanitation. Hookworms are not deadly, but they can impede physical and cognitive development in children, and expose victims to intestinal illnesses.” [The New York Times, 5/22/18 (+)]

 

Research And Analysis

 

Air Pollution Near Power Plants Tied To Premature Births. According to The New York Times, “Closing coal- and oil-fired power plants is associated with a reduction in preterm births in the surrounding region, researchers report. Scientists counted the number of preterm babies born in regions surrounding eight power plants before and after their closings from 2001 to 2011. The study is in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Based on the mother’s home address, the researchers looked at preterm birthrates within three, six and 12 miles of each plant in the year before and the year after closing. There were 57,005 births, 28,083 before the plants closed. Air pollution levels after closing decreased to an average of four tons of nitrogen oxides per year from 177 tons before. The prevalence of preterm birth decreased significantly near power plants after they closed, with larger decreases in women who lived closer to the plants. For those living within three miles of the plants, the preterm birthrate was 5.1 percent after closing compared with 7.0 percent before.” [The New York Times, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

The 'Rush To Gas' Will Strand Billions As Renewables Get Cheaper, Study Says. According to Forbes, “Power producers are rushing to build natural gas plants and pipelines to replace retiring coal, but in less than 10 years much of that infrastructure will be more expensive to operate than the cost to build new renewables, according to an analysis released today by the Rocky Mountain Institute. That would leave investors and ratepayers saddled with billions in stranded assets. ‘The same technological innovations and price declines in renewable energy that have already contributed to early coal-plant retirement are now threatening to strand investments in natural gas,’ according to the report written by Mark Dyson, a principal in the think tank’s electricity practice. Alexander Engel and Jamil Farbes also contributed to the study. Utilities and independent-power-plant developers have already announced plans to invest more than $110 billion in new gas-fired power plants through 2025. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Friday on a massive buildout of natural-gas pipelines in the Northeast. The RMI study extrapolates this trend to 2030 and finds that $520 billion will be required to replace all retiring power plants with new natural-gas plants. ‘This will lock in another $480 billion in fuel costs and 5 billion tons of CO2 emissions through 2030, and up to 16 billion tons through 2050,’ the authors write.” [Forbes, 5/22/18 (=)]

 

 

Missouri

 

Ameren To Establish State's Largest Wind Farm In Northeast Missouri. According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Ameren announced an agreement Monday to move forward with a 175-turbine wind farm in northeast Missouri — which, when constructed, would be the largest in the state. The St. Louis-based electric utility expects the project to break ground in summer 2019 in Adair and Schuyler counties. The 400-megawatt wind farm will be built by an affiliate of the utility-scale renewable energy company, Terra-Gen, and acquired by Ameren after its completion. Ameren — which generates about two-thirds of its electricity from an aging fleet of coal-fired power plants — hailed the announcement as its ‘first major step’ in realizing the renewable energy goals outlined in a 20-year outlook it submitted to state regulators last year. ‘We see that as a step in the right direction,’ said James Owen, executive director of Renew Missouri, an organization that advocates for increased adoption of renewable energy in the state. ‘They’re one of the most coal-dominant utilities of its size in the country.’ … Installing and operating the farm’s more-than-450-foot turbines is expected to support 450 to 500 construction jobs and perhaps a couple dozen permanent positions, according to Arora. The project will also generate local tax revenue and provide annual lease payments to landowners for at least a 30-year lifespan.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/22/18 (=)]