Scott Pruitt’s resignation is a positive change for the EPA

Jordan Coll/Contributing Writer

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt resigned on Thursday, July 5 after several months of ongoing ethical scandals and “unrelenting attacks” on him and his family.

President Trump was the first to announce about Pruitt’s resignation through Twitter, writing that the former administrator “had done an outstanding job, and [he] will always be thankful to him for this.”

It’s no surprise that this so-called environmental “advocate” was questioned for his role in the department.

The agency under Pruitt had eased in toughening policies toward environmental crimes and far less penalties have been seen under this administration than previous ones, according to Politico.

By implementing these weaker policies, the EPA jeopardized the lives of everyday Americans.

On top of this, he was largely disorganized and inconsiderate when it came to personal matters and his staff. For instance, Pruitt would book hotels using his staff’s credit cards and never compensate them for his expenses.

Pruitt was even investigated for mishandling congressional funds as Deputy Chief of Staff John Kelly found him using this money to buy furniture from the Trump hotel.

Instead of focusing on laws that would improve our planet’s wellbeing, Pruitt had constantly urged the President to place him as Head of the Department of Justice without seeking the interests of his own administration.

Because of this, I personally do not see the “outstanding job” the President has referred to in his Thursday tweet, especially with the significant increase in rollback policies in factories and industrial sites consisting of large polluting sectors.

All of these scandals rest on Pruitt’s shoulders. Even though he claims his resignation is solely based on the “unrelenting attacks” he’s personally faced, he’s actually the one to blame for leaving the administration in such disorder.

Rightly so, the House has decided to replace Pruitt with Andrew Wheeler in a congressional vote of 53-45.

With the resignation of Pruitt, a cloud of uncertainty lies on the Administration itself. Hopefully, Wheeler takes his role as the head of the EPA seriously and changes the course of EPA for the good of our planet and its inhabitants.  

 

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Photo taken from Flickr.