32 votes

Scott Pruitt resigns as US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator

17 comments

  1. [12]
    CALICO
    Link
    I got elated for a second before I remember how much of a swamp-thing Andrew Wheeler is.

    I got elated for a second before I remember how much of a swamp-thing Andrew Wheeler is.

    AMY GOODMAN: If you can talk about this? So, this, for him to be number two, that means if Scott Pruitt is forced out—
    ROBERT WEISSMAN: That’s right.
    AMY GOODMAN: —that's Andrew Wheeler, who’s worked for nearly a decade on behalf of fossil fuel companies, including the coal company Murray Energy, approved by the Senate in April, becomes second-in-command and would become the EPA administrator, at least for a time. Is that right?

    17 votes
    1. [11]
      starchturrets
      Link Parent
      Oh dear. That can’t be good.

      Oh dear. That can’t be good.

      2 votes
      1. [10]
        demifiend
        Link Parent
        We'll just have to drive Wheeler out, too. And so on and so forth until the line of succession runs out or we get somebody running the EPA who isn't a complete waste of oxygen.

        We'll just have to drive Wheeler out, too. And so on and so forth until the line of succession runs out or we get somebody running the EPA who isn't a complete waste of oxygen.

        3 votes
        1. [9]
          spctrvl
          Link Parent
          I don't think that's happening until after the republicans are out of office.

          I don't think that's happening until after the republicans are out of office.

          7 votes
          1. [8]
            demifiend
            Link Parent
            Well, we can start by purging the House and 33 Senate seats this November. Not to mention the state gubernatorial races, state legislature, and the various local elections.

            Well, we can start by purging the House and 33 Senate seats this November. Not to mention the state gubernatorial races, state legislature, and the various local elections.

            2 votes
            1. [7]
              spctrvl
              Link Parent
              Sadly most of the seats up for grabs in the senate are already held by Democrats, so we can't achieve a big enough majority to unilaterally impeach. But retaking both houses should be doable and...

              Sadly most of the seats up for grabs in the senate are already held by Democrats, so we can't achieve a big enough majority to unilaterally impeach. But retaking both houses should be doable and by god it's a start. If we get the right candidate, 2020 could make 2008 look like nothing.

              2 votes
              1. [6]
                demifiend
                Link Parent
                Maybe we can't unilaterally impeach, but with Anthony Kennedy stepping down this year we're going to need every Senate seat we can get unless we want yet another right-wing judge who only values...

                Maybe we can't unilaterally impeach, but with Anthony Kennedy stepping down this year we're going to need every Senate seat we can get unless we want yet another right-wing judge who only values the letter of the law on the SCOTUS.

                1. [5]
                  spctrvl
                  Link Parent
                  Kennedy's conveniently stepping down well before the election, just three weeks from now in fact. So unless the republicans decide they don't want that supreme court seat after all, that ship has...

                  Kennedy's conveniently stepping down well before the election, just three weeks from now in fact. So unless the republicans decide they don't want that supreme court seat after all, that ship has sailed.

                  1 vote
                  1. [4]
                    demifiend
                    Link Parent
                    I was hoping that Il Donald wouldn't have a replacement in mind, but I'm sure Mike Pence has a whole stable of candidates in case the current admin decides to try a bit of FDR-style court packing.

                    I was hoping that Il Donald wouldn't have a replacement in mind, but I'm sure Mike Pence has a whole stable of candidates in case the current admin decides to try a bit of FDR-style court packing.

                    1. [3]
                      spctrvl
                      Link Parent
                      They dug up Gorsuch in less than three months and it's going to be another 6 before a hypothetical democratic senate takes charge. I'm not hopeful.

                      They dug up Gorsuch in less than three months and it's going to be another 6 before a hypothetical democratic senate takes charge. I'm not hopeful.

                      1. [2]
                        demifiend
                        Link Parent
                        I suspect they had longer to dig up Gorsuch. Remember that in 2016, Mitch McConnell refused to even allow the senate to vote on whether to allow Merrick Garland to knock the rest of the SCOTUS...

                        I suspect they had longer to dig up Gorsuch. Remember that in 2016, Mitch McConnell refused to even allow the senate to vote on whether to allow Merrick Garland to knock the rest of the SCOTUS down despite his conservative credentials? His bullshit excuse was that since Obama was leaving office, he somehow didn't have the authority to appoint a replacement.

                        I'm no expert on Constitutional law, but I didn't see anything in the articles defining the powers of the executive branch that specified that lame-duck Presidents couldn't do anything.

                        1. spctrvl
                          Link Parent
                          Fair. I forgot it was February that Scalia died in, that's just absolutely insane that McConnell delayed it that long. I still think it's unlikely they won't have anyone picked by January though,...

                          Fair. I forgot it was February that Scalia died in, that's just absolutely insane that McConnell delayed it that long. I still think it's unlikely they won't have anyone picked by January though, so we need to be ready to make unorthodox moves. Justices can be impeached in the same way as presidents, so if we manage to get 67 democrats in the senate (2020 or 2022), Gorsuch could be removed due to his being appointed illegitimately, tilting the balance back to 5-4 liberal even if Kennedy's replacement is allowed to remain.

                          1 vote
  2. [5]
    captain_cardinal
    Link
    Unfortunately, the damage is already done. The deregulation pushed through by Pruitt and the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement were major blows to the EPA and its mission. He's done his job.

    Unfortunately, the damage is already done. The deregulation pushed through by Pruitt and the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement were major blows to the EPA and its mission. He's done his job.

    12 votes
    1. [4]
      latete
      Link Parent
      I understood what you meant but I think we should say that he executed the strategy of the Republican party. He certainly did not do his job (the one he swore an oath to do).

      I understood what you meant but I think we should say that he executed the strategy of the Republican party. He certainly did not do his job (the one he swore an oath to do).

      16 votes
      1. [3]
        molotschna
        Link Parent
        Could we tweak that to the strategy of his corporate overlords? To frame this as about partisan politics rather than greed, pure and simple, seems to distort the true injustice of Pruitt's actions.

        Could we tweak that to the strategy of his corporate overlords? To frame this as about partisan politics rather than greed, pure and simple, seems to distort the true injustice of Pruitt's actions.

        3 votes
        1. spctrvl
          Link Parent
          That's obfuscating the point though, this is partisan politics. The republicans are unambiguously the party of climate change denial. There's many places where you could make an argument that the...

          That's obfuscating the point though, this is partisan politics. The republicans are unambiguously the party of climate change denial. There's many places where you could make an argument that the republicans and the democrats are too close for comfort, but this definitely isn't one of them.

          9 votes
        2. Diet_Coke
          Link Parent
          What's the difference?

          Could we tweak that to the strategy of his corporate overlords?

          What's the difference?

          3 votes