Pruitt's Washington Post Interview: 5 Things To Know

In an apparent public relations counterpunch against a run of bad stories, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt just gave an up-is-down, 2 + 2 = 5 interview to the Washington Post. It sometimes seems like Pruitt lives in an alternate universe, where doing whatever polluting industries say will lead to clean air, clean water, and a prosperous economy.

The interview is an ominous sign because it means Pruitt has no intention of changing his behavior or slowing his attack on environmental protection.

Here are five things to know about the interview.

1. Pruitt vs. EPA on the Facts

In the interview, Mr. Pruitt tries to claim that his approach will lead to better environmental outcomes. But the rules he has cancelled at the behest of industry will cost lives and endanger our health, even by the estimates of his own agency.

Hes canceling the Clean Power Plan and repealing new fuel efficiency standards for bigger trucks, which the agency acknowledges will increase concentrations of particulate matter pollution and harm children. Hes delaying emissions standards for oil and gas operations, which will have a disproportionate effect on children. And hes reconsidering limits on toxic mercury and on dumping coal ash, which damage brain development in babies and increase the risk of childhood cancer, respectively.

2. Surrender

Pruitt claims he works closely with polluters because EPA doesnt have enough resources to rely on enforcement of anti-pollution rules. It is a hollow claim from an administration that has proposed cutting EPAs budget 30%, including cuts to the enforcement office. Its even more laughable from Pruitt, who as Oklahoma Attorney General abolished his offices environmental enforcement unit.

EPA has always worked with cooperative companies to make progress, but thats no substitute for tough enforcement against those that illegally pollute the air and water. For an administration that likes to be seen as tough on crime, Pruitt is signaling surrender to polluters everywhere.

3. Know Him by His Friends

Like a teenager on the wrong track, you can tell a lot about Pruitt from who he hangs out with. In the interview, he defensively says, I dont hang with polluters. But as the interviewer notes, he has traveled extensively to meet with top executives from chemical, agricultural and fossil fuel companies, and has appointed their lobbyists to key agency positions.

The problem isnt just that Pruitt spends a disproportionate amount of his time with those hes supposed to regulate, its that he seems to do whatever they want. For instance, after meeting with the company that makes super-polluting glider trucks, he created a loophole that will lead to tens of thousands of lost lives from increased air pollution.

Its a pattern that has been repeated again and again, with industries from chemicals to coal.

4. Picking Losers

Pruitt says hes been moving away from clean energy because hes against picking winners and losers. But his policies are really a politically driven attempt to prop up his allies in the coal industry, which has been losing out in the marketplace. Pruitts policies ignore the huge cost imposed on taxpayers from coal pollutionin healthcare expenses, lost productivity, and climate impacts.

There is real economic pain in coal country, but the solution isnt giving coal companies a free pass and workers false hope. There are far more jobs in wind and solar than coal, and creating a level playing field for clean energy industries by recognizing the true cost of pollution is the way to create more prosperity.

5. Pruitt Loves Trump

Sounding a bit like Dwight Schrute, Pruitt says of his boss, I love spending time around these issues with him because hes got tremendous ideas.

Trumps ideas aside, it is true that the President and his EPA administrator are in lock-step. Pruitt was influential in Trumps decisions to isolate the United States as the only country on the planet to reject the Paris climate agreement, and the two have a mutual vision for dismantling EPA from within. Thats probably why Trumps approval rating on the environment is one his three lowest, along with Russian relations and healthcare.

There is so much Pruitt skates by in his interview, its hard to pick only five points. He has suppressed scientists, packed EPA advisory boards with advocates for industry, appointed lobbyists for the coal and chemical industries to key jobs, skirted ethics and openness rules, and rejected the basic facts of climate change.

In Scott Pruitts world, nothing is as it seems.

On Twitter @RealKeithGaby