EPA administrator declared an end to the government’s ‘war’ on coal in a speech to miners – an agenda that has been bitterly opposed by agency staff

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Scott Pruitt, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, heralded a new era of environmental deregulation on Thursday, in a speech at a coal mine that was fined last year for contaminating local waterways with toxic materials.



Pruitt said the new “back to basics” agenda for the EPA would focus on devolving oversight of clean air and water to individual states, and bolstering jobs in industries such as coal, oil and gas.

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This new agenda for the EPA, bitterly opposed by many of the agency’s staff, was unveiled at the Harvey mine in Sycamore, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. Pruitt, who was presented with an honorary mining helmet, said the federal government’s “war” on coal was over in a speech to assembled miners.

“The coal industry was nearly devastated by years of regulatory overreach, but with new direction from President Trump, we are helping to turn things around for these miners and for many other hardworking Americans,” said Pruitt.

“Back to basics means returning EPA to its core mission: protecting the environment by engaging with state, local, and tribal partners to create sensible regulations that enhance economic growth.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Scott Pruitt holds up a hardhat during his visit to the Harvey mine. Photograph: Gene J. Puskar/AP

The new vision involves scrapping or rewriting rules that combat climate change, water pollution and vehicle emissions. A task force has been set up within the EPA to identify further regulations to be revamped.

Though Pruitt insisted that clean air and water will be maintained in this purge, the choice of venue for the announcement was jarring.

Consol Energy, which operates the Bailey Mine complex which includes the Harvey mine, was fined $3m in August for discharging contaminated wastewater into streams that flow into the Ohio river. In the settlement with the EPA and the justice department, it emerged that the mining operation exceeded effluent limits at least 188 times between 2006 and 2015.

Consol said it has improved its pollution control systems and that is “committed to being a good neighbor” to nearby communities. The company has indicated that it wants to exit the coal business entirely after jettisoning seven mines in the past four years.

Bruce Niles, campaign director for Sierra Club’s “beyond coal” campaign said: “Pruitt’s record shows that he has put the profits of polluters before the safety of the public by attacking clean air and clean water safeguards over and over again.

“This toxic backdrop for Pruitt’s latest publicity stunt only proves his true priorities are with polluters, not people’s health.”

Coal miners were also present when Donald Trump signed an executive order last month that called on Pruitt to review the Clean Power Plan, the cornerstone emissions reduction policy of Barack Obama’s presidency. Trump has vowed to scrap the plan, which Pruitt opposed in the courts while attorney general of Oklahoma.

Pruitt has accused the Obama administration of advancing an “ideological agenda that expanded the reach of the federal government” and has promised to restore what he has called “core EPA originalism” by protecting air and water quality while helping create jobs.

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In practice, this has involved the attempted rollback of various regulations, including the venting of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, halting new vehicle emissions requirements and rewriting a limit on ozone pollution, which causes urban smog.

During his time in Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times in opposition to its rules around pollutants, including mercury and smog.

Pruitt has repeatedly questioned mainstream scientific understanding of climate change. The EPA’s scientific integrity watchdog is currently investigating comments made by Pruitt that rejected the overwhelming scientific evidence that carbon dioxide is a key driver of global warming.

In March, Pruitt told CNBC that he “would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see”. The EPA’s scientific integrity policy demands that staff accurately represent scientific findings. The agency’s own website, in common with almost all climate scientists, states that CO2 is the “primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change”.

The EPA administrator also recently decided to reject the conclusion of his own agency’s scientists who recommended that a widely used pesticide, chlorpyrifos, should be banned from farms.

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EPA scientists warned that the pesticides could cause severe harm to children and farm workers, but Pruitt said chlorpyrifos would not be banned in order to provide “regulatory certainty” to businesses.

The EPA has been targeted by the Trump administration for stringent budget cuts. The agency has drawn up a plan that would lay off 25% of its employees and scrap 56 programs, including pesticide safety, lead toxicity and environmental justice. There would be new funding, however, for a 24-hour security detail for Pruitt.

The plan is the embodiment of Trump’s pledge to reduce the EPA to “tidbits” but is unlikely to be fully adopted by Congress, which decides funding levels for federal agencies.