Slashdot Mirror


Scott Pruitt Resigns as EPA Administrator (cnbc.com)

Scott Pruitt's polarizing tenure as head of the Environmental Protection Agency has come to an end. From a report: President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that he has accepted Pruitt's resignation. Trump said that the agency's deputy administrator, Andrew Wheeler, will become the acting head of EPA. The departure follows months of scrutiny that gathered momentum following reports that Pruitt had rented a Capitol Hill condominium linked to an energy lobbyist on favorable terms. The revelation exacerbated concerns about the high cost of Pruitt's travel and security detail and triggered a flood of allegations that Pruitt fostered a culture of workplace retaliation, wasteful spending and self-dealing at EPA. The steady flow of negative news stories prompted multiple government investigators to open several inquiries into Pruitt. His EPA now faces about a dozen probes into its spending, ethics and policy decisions. In a statement, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said, "Good." Further reading: Judge Orders EPA To Produce Science Behind Pruitt's Climate Claims

33 of 437 comments (clear)

  1. GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just sayin

    1. Re:GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd be more than okay with that, too, because Sessions strikes me as a closeted neo-nazi, the way he doesn't give a fuck about basic human rights.
      Law not tempered by mercy is not justice, and untempered law strictly enforced to the letter is barbarism.

    2. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by DamnOregonian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, the leftists pushed him out, with their massive political power in the current Government.
      Fucking moron.
      Him being gone has nothing to do with leftists, that corrupt shitstain simply crossed a threshold where it was realized that he would start becoming a liability to get *any* middle voters. Pruitt is an example of Trump filling the swamp, and he won because he promised to some desperate people who really didn't like him very much to drain it. He'll need those people if he wants 2020, and if the republicans want 2018.

    3. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I like the whole "look at his expensive pens" deal, I don't want the EPA administrator handing a $.50 pen to his worldwide counterparts left over from a job fair.

      I remember when you guys had a fit because Obama put Grey Poupon on a hamburger. And why was Scott Pruitt even dealing with "worldwide counterparts". He was head of the Environmental Protection Agency, not the State Department. Maybe if he'd spent a little less time trying to hook his wife up with a no-work job and a little more time fixing the problem with lead in the drinking water on US domestic military bases, he wouldn't be seen as such a schnorrer.

      So, kindly go fuck yourself

      Anyway, the most fun part of the Pruitt saga was when he would make his underlings book his personal travel expenses and then not reimburse them. The guy wasn't just corrupt, he was corrupt about some of the most petty things imaginable. I'll bet he was taking those $1500 worth of pens and selling them on eBay. He was so corrupt that there should now be a 20-year moratorium on anyone from Oklahoma having a job with the federal government, just to be on the safe side. You know, until we figure out what's going on.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I like the whole "look at his expensive pens" deal, I don't want the EPA administrator handing a $.50 pen to his worldwide counterparts left over from a job fair.

      That is a very specific and spelled out crime. And your willingness to accept criminal actions by lawmakers is just an example of the abandonment of law and order by the party that used to run on it.

      Pretty much makes you a criminal in my book. I support actual law and order, and punishing criminals to the maximum extent possible -

      You can bitch about lefties all you want. If a lefdt winger is law abiding, then they deserve to live peacefully. A right winger like yourself who suports lawlessness is a person who needs to be with other criminals. I'm not a leftie either. WhAt is it like to support crime?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    5. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, the leftists pushed him out, with their massive political power in the current Government. Fucking moron. Him being gone has nothing to do with leftists, that corrupt shitstain simply crossed a threshold where it was realized that he would start becoming a liability to get *any* middle voters. Pruitt is an example of Trump filling the swamp, and he won because he promised to some desperate people who really didn't like him very much to drain it. He'll need those people if he wants 2020, and if the republicans want 2018.

      What is unfortunate is that people like makerfixer actually support criminals as long as they pretend to be against those "lefties" that he has a white hot hate for. note - for criminals like makerfixer, a leftie is anyone who disagrees with him or his god on earth who he licks the boots of.. Funny how a far left idea like tarriffs - which are a form of price control - is now a right wing touchstone. And actual criminals like pruitt are defended as patriotic right thinking Americans.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by DamnOregonian · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What's this shit about pens? Why are you throwing up a smoke screen for the man?
      He's currently under 17 ethics violation, not a single one of them has anything to do with some fucking overpriced pens.
      Don't try to purposefully conflate people trying to throw dirt at the man with the very real ethics violation and corruption he's been caught red-handed engaging in.

    7. Re: GOOD RIDDANCE TURD by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is why we need more Republicans and Trump people in office!

      Exactly! This whole ethics things is just stupid. We don't want law-abiding people in office, we want the finest criminals money can buy! I mean how else is my ship going to come in? I figure that any day now I'll get a bit rich and then I want to be able to bribe my way into getting sweet government lucre using ethics violations and then I'll be super rich.

      There's much less chance of me being able to do that if we get rid of Trump and his ilk.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  2. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump is the swamp. He's done nothing but appoint rich, unqualified morons to head various things.

    They've all proven to know nothing at all about the stuff they're in charge of, and mostly are just looking to enrich themselves. And they lie in public just as much as he does (like about $31K dining sets they claim they don't remember approving).

    Trump and his idiot cronies are really just sticking their fingers in the pie and giving themselves all sorts of perks, and this includes his shit-stain of a family.

    Anybody who thought an asshole billionaire would be doing anything but making life better for his asshole billionaire friends was a fool from the get go.

    Just remember, America ... when this clown is done being in office, the damage he's done to your international relationships won't be easily fixed. We sure as fuck won't be rushing to make nice with you.

  3. Re: Trump's version of swamp draining... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize simply for not being Bush, imagine what Trumpâ(TM)s successor will be awarded.

  4. Womp womp by scubamage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thoughts and prayers.

  5. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by chadenright · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What worries me are not the Americans who are horrified at what Trump is doing to our country. I'm far, far more worried about the Americans who think Trump is doing an OK job, the economy is rosy, and he is keeping all his campaign promises to them. Because those are the people who are gonna vote Trump again in 2020 and I'm not sure the US can survive another 4 years of him.

  6. An EPA administrator with the shortest tenure by Lucas123 · · Score: 4, Informative

    And yet, he had the most harmful agenda toward his own agancy of any predecessor.

    What's crazy is that it took an ethics scandal over sweetheart deals with a gas industry lobbying firm to get him out

    Yeah, I guess you can say at least he's out, but who knows who Trump will replace him with. Probably just another oil and coal industry lapdog.

    1. Re:An EPA administrator with the shortest tenure by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What's really sad is that something like Watergate would not fell the president today but be used as an excuse to cut into journalist freedoms.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. Good. But what about the next guy? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Scott Pruitt resigning is a good thing, but is his replacement going to be as bad, or worse? We need an EPA that puts protecting the environment ahead of corporate interests and ignores 'personal loyalty' to Trump, and you can call me 'anti-Trump' (true, but irrelevant for this subject) or 'pro-Hillary' (untrue, and just as irrelevant), but if your kids are getting cancer (or YOU get cancer) or are born with birth defects because there's toxic substances in your drinking water and/or air, I guarantee that you will care, and if your nice coastal home has to be abandoned because sea levels rise permanently and flood you out, you will care. Try thinking in the long term, Conservative types, and not just about punishing so-called 'liberals', or only as far ahead as next quarters' profits.

    1. Re:Good. But what about the next guy? by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not to distract from your main point about his successor, which is good, I want to criticize your use of the term "Conservative types" with a capital C.

      Nobody is a more rabid environmentalist than the hunter who wants to protect their land or the fisherman who wants to protect their livelihood. These people are typically conservatives. Conservatives are about preservation and good stewardship. The Republican party does not define what it is to be conservative, and environmentalism is not a liberal or conservative philosophy.

      The Republican party has cognitive dissonance over environmentalism because the party has entrenched big-business interests with very short-term thinking. They have vocally pushed the false story that environmental policy is anti-business.

      Toyota made a fortune off environmentally friendly cars. When George W Bush told America that raising fuel economy would cost "millions" of jobs, Toyota bet on the technology anyway. When gas prices rose Americans bought fuel-efficient cars bolstering Toyota. The American auto makers were either buying engines from Toyota or licensing their patents. Environmental tech paid off.

      When the US government used thermal imaging to inspect for leaks in large ships, big shipping companies objected. But once they realized that cutting down on engine leaks would save them money, they started enforcing the emissions laws themselves because it was profitable.

      Conservatives know that investing in environmental technology is often economically productive. Less fuel consumption means less dependency on foreign resources, less damage to American land and resources, and more technological innovation and leadership.

  8. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I firmly believe that many of Trump's base are his base not because they like Trump so much, but because they hated Obama and all Democrats and used their ballots for revenge, and to hell what it did to the Country, let it all burn to the ground so far as they're concerned; it's the ugly underside of having a democratic republic, nothing prevents people from abusing their right to vote in such a way that they use it to cause damage just out of spite. I also firmly believe that many of Trump's supporters are in so deep now that they don't think they can do and about-face without losing everything, so they continue to hold their noses, and that members of the GOP who are suddenly retiring from office are doing so because they can't hold their noses anymore, but aren't going to 'sell out' their own party (although ironically, they did exactly that by supporting Trump as a candidate).

    So far as 2020 goes: If you want to help, you've got to convince people you know who are Independents to register as Democrat, even if it's just an expedient, and if you know any Republicans who also just can't hold their noses any longer against how much Trump and the GOP stink, get them to do the same. It's what I saw I had to do, and it's probably the only way to get him out of office in 2020 (unless Mueller turns up something even the GOP can't ignore). People will say you're asking them to be traitors to their principles, but desperate times call for desperate measures; tell them that at least this way they can help get a viable Democratic candidate on the ballot who isn't Hillary Clinton (because she's a guaranteed loss).

  9. Prediction: by DalM · · Score: 4, Funny

    Melania is going to get the boot as a surprise twist during the fall season premier.

  10. Re:Super swamper for sure... by admin7087 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't know, maybe you guys should focus on clean, lead-free tap water first.

  11. Re:Super swamper for sure... by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The EPA is why every car doesn't smell like that banged up 1980s Chrysler "Antique" you drove behind the other day. It's why LA isn't full of smog. It's part of the same movement that removed lead from gasoline, causing a reduction in brain damage and, according to all available evidence, ultimately causing a massive reduction in crime since the 1980s.

    No, it doesn't need to be curtailed, most of us want clean air and water. You may be the exception, you may even like brain damage, I have no idea, but you're the exception.

    --
    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  12. Well the problem with getting rid of Sessions... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The problem with replacing Sessions is he's recused. Anyone Trump gets in there besides him won't be, and would end the investigations causing the big Constitutional crisis that could really... be bad for everybody.

    I don't put it past Trump to burn the White House down if he can't have it.

  13. Rich by ArchieBunker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Go ahead and find me a poor politician, I'll wait.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  14. Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by shanen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pruitt had become the poster child for government corruption, but I think Trump actually liked his flamboyance about it. Sort of created cover for Trump's own shenanigans. I am sort of curious which camel broke the straw's back, but mostly I agree with the "good riddance" comments and I'm offended by the holier-than-thou hypocrisy.

    The last of the vestigial TRUE Republicans are dying or retiring. The brand has been hijacked.

    Gee, do you suppose it would deter the hijackers like Scott Pruitt if someone would lock up their kids? You know, the old collective responsibility thing.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    1. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The last of the vestigial TRUE Republicans are dying or retiring. The brand has been hijacked.

      Agreed. I'm not a kid, far from it, and I clearly remember that while you didn't necessarily agree with what the GOP did, they at least believed in family and had a sense of basic decency. Doesn't seem to the case anymore, now it just seems to be extremists catering to other extremists.

      Gee, do you suppose it would deter the hijackers like Scott Pruitt if someone would lock up their kids? You know, the old collective responsibility thing.

      What I'd actually do is get their wives in front of a camera for an interview and find out what they really think of all this. The crowning achievement here would be to get Melania Trump to disagree with her own husband on all of this, and do it publicly; sadly that won't ever happen, so I'd be happy enough to have Sessions' own wife, or adult daughter, speak out against these 'policies'. But yeah, having someone, say, kidnap Sessions' kids, just to prove a point? That'd be powerful. Not hurt them in any way, of course, and not even demand any ransom; treat them like royalty, keep them for a week or two, then they show up unharmed on the doorstep of th DoJ, with a note from the kidnappers: "How does it feel to not know where your children are, Mister Sessions?"

    2. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

      I clearly remember that while you didn't necessarily agree with what the GOP did, they at least believed in family and had a sense of basic decency.

      It is a true sign of how far we have come when we get nostalgic about the good ole' days of Dick Nixon.

    3. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Far simple, just tackle those corrupt idiots weaknesses. They are psychopaths driven by their ego and lusts, put them under the spot light to deny them their lusts and just insult the crap out of them at every opportunity, they will never feel shame but being publicly ridiculed makes them burn. That and expose everyone of the deceptions, scams and simply keep poking their plots and schemes until they fall apart. Next level shun those than refuse to shun them (they then have to rely on each other, worse than it sounds as they are all disingenuous back stabber all too happy to stab each other in the back to get ahead).

      Without us they fail and with them we fail, interesting that.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 5, Funny

      True, the GOP of my youth was one of unfettered freedom of economy, what's left today is unfettered kleptocracy.

      I have a dream that the Ghost of Barry Goldwater comes back and beats the entire Republican Party with the jawbone of an ass.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    5. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I clearly remember that while you didn't necessarily agree with what the GOP did, they at least believed in family and had a sense of basic decency.

      It is a true sign of how far we have come when we get nostalgic about the good ole' days of Dick Nixon.

      More like Barry Goldwater. Nixon was definitely a crook who deserved more than what he got.

      The problem of casting a wide net is that Nixon did not represent the GOP as a whole. And when the Republicans at the time became convinced of his crimes, they were ready to boot his ass out of office.

      The difference is that today's Republicnas are the very definition of cowardice, and will not stand up to the man who now defines their ideology, so it will be up to the American people to elect politicians who have a backbone.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:Hypocrisy, thy name is Boshevik Republican by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nixon did not represent the GOP as a whole.

      He represented the party as a whole a lot better than Goldwater did. Millions of "Rockefeller Republicans" voted for Johnson, and Goldwater lost in an historic landslide.

      The difference is that today's Republicnas are the very definition of cowardice

      The difference is that Nixon lost the support of the American people, and Republicans were not punished by voters for abandoning him. Trump is very popular with the Republican base, and Republicans that opposed him have been booted by primary voters.

      The problem is not the "courage" of the leaders, it is foolishness of the base.

  15. How is this "News for nerds"? by toonces33 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Too many of the articles seem to be things designed to "engage" people, and aren't terribly informative. And by "engage" I mean get people to start arguing.

  16. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Trump is standing up to the world

    Yeah! Those fucking Canadians have had it too easy for too long, what with them always helping us!

    You're just mad because you want to see America fail.

    This makes me sad because I believe that many Trump supporters actually believe things like this about people who disagree with them. There are way too many people in this country who think they have a monopoly on love for their country.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  17. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    or get Democrats to all re-register as Republican for 2020

    Or maybe actual progressives need to form their own party, actual small-government conservatives need to form their own party, and let the "Democrats" and "Republicans" twist in the wind wondering why no one likes them any more.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
  18. Re:Trump's version of swamp draining... by dryeo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Doesn't work, whichever 3rd party that replaces one of the main stream ones will just have all the members of the main stream one move to the new party.

    --
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism