Trump made an unethical choice by appointing a global warming denialist, Scott Pruitt, to lead the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
By: Neva Tayler
On December 7th, 2016 Donald Trump made the choice to appoint a global warming denialist, Scott Pruitt, to lead the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). In 2011, the United States was one of the leading countries, and still is, with 5.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. About 2.4 pounds of carbon dioxide is pumped in the air every second. It only makes sense to have the leader of the EPA be someone who wants to protect our environment from this change but, President Elect Donald Trump has appointed someone who denies this truth.
In the past, Pruitt has been one of the loudest opponents of the EPA. He worked with large corporate polluters to challenging the EPA to court more than a dozen times, claiming that federal laws aimed at protecting the environment is an abusive overreach. In a 2013 speech, Scott Pruitt showed that he understood the proper role of the EPA. "... It's not good for us to say that the EPA doesn't have any role. Because just think about it, you have a power plant in Arkansas that's burning coal irresponsibly or inconsistent with the statue, and it comes over to Oklahoma and Texas. So there is a role for the EPA, it's just that they assert themselves in ways that are above that role" (Scott Pruitt). Even though Pruitt proved that he understands the role of the EPA, he also demonstrated that he believes the EPA is doing more than they stood be. Is it really a logical choice to appoint someone who fought against the very organization they are leading?
Scott Pruitt helped lead the movement to block the clean power plan that the EPA was trying to create. Pruitt joined a group of attorney generals who wanted to sue the clean power plan because they questioned the merits of the idea. Pruitt has said that the American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from economy because of EPA regulations. Although this is true, from this money the EPA has put it to use and has protected our environment because of it, such as the clean power plan that soon became an act. Dramatic reductions in air pollution have been achieved and hundreds, even thousands, of serious health effects each year have decreased. Lower air pollutants also mean that there is less damage to our ecosystems. It is obvious that the EPA’s merit for this act was to help protect our environment and us as Americans and so far it has.
Scott Pruitt wants to unravel Obama’s attempt to confront climate change caused by human activity because he believes that climate change it a hoax. He has questioned mainstream science several times on the topic. Pruitt has worked closely with fossil fuel companies and has been caught trying to tear down environmental protections by creating secret allies with oil and gas industry insiders. Scott Pruitt and many of deniers of climate change have claimed that Earth’s climate has always warmed and cooled and that this is just one of those times. But the evidence is right here, staring us straight in the face, since the year of 1751 more than 337 billion metric tons of CO2 have been released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production because of human activity. The pre-industrial level was 280 parts per million but it has increased to about 400 parts per million. Obama has confronted this issue in his recent farewell address stating, “We can and we should argue about the best approach to solve the problem but to simple deny the problem, not only betrays future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country.” (Barack Obama). Our leaders can no longer deny the fact that we have changed our environment drastically. It is heart wrenching to think that the leader of the EPA, someone who is supposed to help protect our environment, does not believe the facts directly in front of us. That our climate is changing because of our own doing.
The very person that our president has appointed to be in charge of the EPA has shown that he does not support what he needs to protect and further stop. In effect of this, our environmental factors could worsen such as, fellow Americans experiencing serious health effects because the air around us is polluted due to human error. As a United Nation we need take charge and protect the very place that we desire to live in, America. For it is home and we cannot let it fall because of unfit leaders.
By: Neva Tayler
On December 7th, 2016 Donald Trump made the choice to appoint a global warming denialist, Scott Pruitt, to lead the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). In 2011, the United States was one of the leading countries, and still is, with 5.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. About 2.4 pounds of carbon dioxide is pumped in the air every second. It only makes sense to have the leader of the EPA be someone who wants to protect our environment from this change but, President Elect Donald Trump has appointed someone who denies this truth.
In the past, Pruitt has been one of the loudest opponents of the EPA. He worked with large corporate polluters to challenging the EPA to court more than a dozen times, claiming that federal laws aimed at protecting the environment is an abusive overreach. In a 2013 speech, Scott Pruitt showed that he understood the proper role of the EPA. "... It's not good for us to say that the EPA doesn't have any role. Because just think about it, you have a power plant in Arkansas that's burning coal irresponsibly or inconsistent with the statue, and it comes over to Oklahoma and Texas. So there is a role for the EPA, it's just that they assert themselves in ways that are above that role" (Scott Pruitt). Even though Pruitt proved that he understands the role of the EPA, he also demonstrated that he believes the EPA is doing more than they stood be. Is it really a logical choice to appoint someone who fought against the very organization they are leading?
Scott Pruitt helped lead the movement to block the clean power plan that the EPA was trying to create. Pruitt joined a group of attorney generals who wanted to sue the clean power plan because they questioned the merits of the idea. Pruitt has said that the American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from economy because of EPA regulations. Although this is true, from this money the EPA has put it to use and has protected our environment because of it, such as the clean power plan that soon became an act. Dramatic reductions in air pollution have been achieved and hundreds, even thousands, of serious health effects each year have decreased. Lower air pollutants also mean that there is less damage to our ecosystems. It is obvious that the EPA’s merit for this act was to help protect our environment and us as Americans and so far it has.
Scott Pruitt wants to unravel Obama’s attempt to confront climate change caused by human activity because he believes that climate change it a hoax. He has questioned mainstream science several times on the topic. Pruitt has worked closely with fossil fuel companies and has been caught trying to tear down environmental protections by creating secret allies with oil and gas industry insiders. Scott Pruitt and many of deniers of climate change have claimed that Earth’s climate has always warmed and cooled and that this is just one of those times. But the evidence is right here, staring us straight in the face, since the year of 1751 more than 337 billion metric tons of CO2 have been released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels and cement production because of human activity. The pre-industrial level was 280 parts per million but it has increased to about 400 parts per million. Obama has confronted this issue in his recent farewell address stating, “We can and we should argue about the best approach to solve the problem but to simple deny the problem, not only betrays future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country.” (Barack Obama). Our leaders can no longer deny the fact that we have changed our environment drastically. It is heart wrenching to think that the leader of the EPA, someone who is supposed to help protect our environment, does not believe the facts directly in front of us. That our climate is changing because of our own doing.
The very person that our president has appointed to be in charge of the EPA has shown that he does not support what he needs to protect and further stop. In effect of this, our environmental factors could worsen such as, fellow Americans experiencing serious health effects because the air around us is polluted due to human error. As a United Nation we need take charge and protect the very place that we desire to live in, America. For it is home and we cannot let it fall because of unfit leaders.