You Have To Read The EPA’s Bizarre Press Release About Scott Pruitt’s Confirmation

On Friday, Scott Pruitt became the latest totally unqualified cabinet nominee to be approved by the GOP-controlled Senate. Pruitt will head the Environmental Protection Agency, virtually guaranteeing that we will soon be living in a country which is much more heavily polluted, less safe, and where big business gets to decide whether or not they want to do what’s in the best interest of the planet.

Pruitt, the former Attorney General of Oklahoma–where he was nothing more than a puppet of the fossil fuel industry–is such a train wreck for the EPA that current employees tried to prevent him from being confirmed.

But by a vote of 52-47, Pruitt was made head of an agency that he has been critical of his entire career. And the press release sent out shortly after his confirmation lets you know exactly who he plans to protect. Hint: It won’t be you and me, because we don’t have enough money to bribe him.

The press release begins:

“American leaders and job creators all across the country today cheered as Scott Pruitt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the new EPA Administrator.”

What follows is a long list of quotes from various well-known enemies of the environment. Take a look at a few of these:

Paul Bailey, President and CEO, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity
“We are pleased the Senate has confirmed Mr. Pruitt to be the next EPA Administrator. He will make an exceptional head of EPA.   Under his leadership, we expect EPA to return to sensible policies that both protect the environment and recognize the need for reliable and affordable coal-based electricity.“

For the record, there never has been such a thing as “clean coal.” Coal is dirty to mine, transport, and burn. It produces gigantic levels of CO2 emissions and should be eliminated from our national energy equation ASAP.

Jay Timmons, President, National Association of Manufacturers
“After facing record high costs to comply with EPA regulations over the past decade, manufacturers welcomed today’s Senate confirmation of Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. We are confident that under his leadership, Pruitt will restore balance to the way environmental regulations are developed. Manufacturers look forward to him getting to work right away. Manufacturers know it’s possible to have responsible environmental stewardship and robust economic growth at the same time. We are leaders on sustainability and developing emissions-reducing innovations, and as we look to find solutions to the environmental challenges we face, manufacturers will continue to lead the way.”

Translation: We are gonna pollute at will and if it happens to give your children cancer, that’s your freaking problem. Cha-ching!

Here’s one more:

Craig Uben, President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
“For far too long, the EPA has been a runaway bureaucracy largely out of touch with how its policies directly affect folks like cattle ranchers, who use – and responsibly care for – the environment while providing the safest and most abundant food supply in the world. Scott Pruitt will restore some common sense to environmental policy and we look forward to working with him on restoring regulatory sanity to Washington, such as by killing the onerous ‘Waters of the United States’ rule.”

That means you’ll be seeing lots of ranchers dumping animal feces and dead carcasses in locations that will directly leach into your drinking water. So by all means enjoy your morning cowshit cocktail with your coffee.

If you think you can stomach it, you can read the entire press release here. Oh, and don’t mind that toxic waste site down the street. Scott Pruitt says it’s perfectly safe.

Featured Image Via CNN Screengrab