Posted on February 17, 2017
The health and safety of the American people took a big hit today with the confirmation of Scott Pruitt to run the U.S. Environmental Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration. Installing the rabidly anti-regulation, pro-business, climate change denying former attorney general is Trump making good on his campaign trail promises to eviscerate the EPA.
On behalf of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), we are aghast at this confirmation. As Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits against EPA but didn’t even file one suit to reduce air pollution for the 11,000 children suffering from asthma in his state. We are so grateful to the Senate Democrats who listened to their constituents and fought back, protesting through the night last night for the second time during this set of cabinet confirmations. Unfortunately, two Democrats made the unconscionable decision to cross party lines and vote in favor of Pruitt: Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — both energy producing states. On the other hand, we thank Sen. Collins of Maine, the sole Republican to vote against Pruitt.
Worse even than Senate Democrats crossing the line is the way Senate Republicans shut down the Dems’ opposition and forced the vote on Pruitt today. Last night, a court order required Pruitt to turn over tens of thousands of emails pertaining to “Pruitt’s communications with fossil fuel companies, which have a large presence in his state.” and Senate Democrats requested 10 days to review and process the emails, but Senate Leader Mitch McConnell pushed the vote through regardless, robbing the American public of their chance to analyze and comprehend Pruitt’s possible conflicts of interest with the energy industry.
Be sure of it: Everything about our environmental policy is about to change drastically, and it won’t be in our favor. As we move into dangerous and uncertain times, it will be up to us — nonprofits, trade unions, and advocates — to amp up our efforts and work to find creative, subversive ways to protect public health and the environment while the EPA cannot.
One of our biggest battles under this new EPA leadership — and administration — will be combatting “alternative facts” and junk science. Hundreds of EPA employees who are scientists, environmental lawyers and policy experts called their senators to urge them to vote on Friday against the confirmation of Pruitt. The asbestos industry has dumped millions into funding “independent research” that results in alternative facts claiming asbestos to be safe. This junk science — aided by weak chemical regulation laws — foiled a 1989 attempt by the EPA to ban the known human carcinogen. This is why asbestos, a known human carcinogen, remains legal and lethal in the U.S., killing as many as 15,000 American men, women, and children each year.
Pruitt’s confirmation is gravely concerning to anti-asbestos advocates, especially given President Trump’s well-documented fondness for asbestos, which he believes is a “lifesaving fireproofing material” unfairly maligned by the mafia. Especially given Trump’s exhibited precedent of firing federal employees who disagree with him, it’s difficult to imagine Pruitt or anyone else arguing the case against asbestos if it’s out of step with Trump’s stance.
Fortunately, asbestos has already been designated as one of the first ten chemicals for prioritization under the reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the legal text of the bill sets strict, enforceable statutory deadlines. Risk evaluations will start this year with rulemaking to follow. Of course, these risk evaluations and the subsequent rule making are not immune to the threat of industry-backed alternative facts that could result in negligible, if any regulation.
For decades, countless have worked to end the deadly asbestos man-made disaster we’re not backing down now. We’re thankful to the incredible environmental and public health nonprofits that campaigned against Pruitt, including the Sierra Club; the Natural Resources Defense Council; Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families; and the Environmental Working Group.
If you’re feeling scared, anxious, or infuriated about our new EPA Administration, you’re not alone. After the victories of last year, few things could feel more discouraging. But now is not the time to lay down and give up. We must fight back, and if we do so together, I promise we’ll win.
In unity,
Linda