By Morgan Gstalter
The Hill
April 19, 2018
Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christine Todd Whitman penned a submission for current EPA chief Scott Pruitt in Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People List,” lashing out at Pruitt for endangering “human health.”
Whitman served as the EPA administrator during the George W. Bush administration and went after President Trump’s pick in her piece, released by the magazine on Thursday.
“If his actions continue in the same direction, during Pruitt’s term at the EPA the environment will be threatened instead of protected, and human health endangered instead of preserved, all with no long-term benefit,” Whitman wrote.
The EPA’s history of improving air, land and water quality is threatened under Pruitt’s policy of “dismantling,” Whitman wrote.
“He has already dismantled the Clean Power Plan, which would have regulated carbon dioxide emissions in the power sector, and is now targeting vehicle-emissions standards,” Whitman wrote.
Whitman in 2016 knocked Trump’s decision to nominate Pruitt, who frequently sued the Obama administration’s EPA while working as Oklahoma attorney general.
“I don’t recall ever having seen an appointment of someone who is so disdainful of the agency and the science behind what the agency does,” Whitman said at the time.
In January, Whitman predicted it will take the agency “20 to 30” years to regain its full capability after being dismantled under Trump and Pruitt.
Pruitt has frequently been criticized for his rollback of Obama-era regulations. He has also recently come under fire for a series of ethics scandals.
A group of 170 lawmakers signed a “no confidence” resolution on Wednesday calling for Pruitt to resign over his use of taxpayer money, “dramatic” budget cuts and waivers given to employees to work at connected companies while still employed at the EPA.
A poll last week found that Pruitt only has a 29 percent job approval rating