Since taking over at the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt has showered the coal, oil, gas, and chemical industries with deregulatory gifts while reportedly slowing his agency to a crawl, hindering its ability to implement environmental laws. Shockingly, this has made him many enemies, especially among those who do not believe it’s the agency’s job to allow the Earth to be treated like a toilet bowl. So it’s not totally surprising that Pruitt has taken steps to ensure his safety, like reportedly employing a 24-hour security detail, refusing to disclose his schedule in advance, sweeping his office for bugs, and constructing a $25,000 secret phone booth. But apparently, there’s another very important precaution he’s been forced to take in order to safeguard his well-being: staying the hell out of coach.

After coming under fire for reports that he frequently flies first or business class when a seat in coach is available at a fraction of the cost, the E.P.A administrator explained to the New Hampshire Union Leader that there’s a very good reason he must stick to the cabin where the food is markedly better and the booze runs freely. Claiming that there were “some incidents on travel dating back when I first started serving in the March-April time frame,” Pruitt said, “we live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment.” He added that “the level of protection [he receives] is determined by the level of threat.”

In a statement to Politico on Tuesday, E.P.A. spokesman Jahan Wilcox confirmed that, “due to security reasons, [Pruitt] has a blanket waiver to buy business or first class.” Neither Wilcox nor Pruitt got into the specifics of why flying coach is a security risk, but first class or business, on the same aircraft, is acceptable—though presumably lie-flat beds provide an extra layer of protection.

The many pricey flights in question have included frequent weekend trips home to Oklahoma, as well as Pruitt’s June trip to Italy for meetings at the Vatican, which set taxpayers back more than $7,000 for a round-trip business-class ticket. On the way back from Milan, Pruitt traveled via Emirates airline, whose business-class cabins, CBS News notes, “are some of the world’s most luxurious, complete with an onboard lounge that promises what the airline calls a ‘truly unique journey.’” The entire trip, including a ride on a military aircraft that whisked Pruitt from Cincinnati to his departing flight to Rome, cost more than $43,000, according to travel vouchers viewed by the Environmental Integrity Project. Even Republicans have raised eyebrows when it comes to Pruitt’s apparent coach allergy, with Senator John Kennedy telling CBS, “I think as a general rule, except for the president and the V.P. or if you’re paying for it yourself, you ought to fly coach.”

Pruitt, of course, is far from the first Trump official whose flying habits have come under fire, but according to the E.P.A. chief, the circumstances under which he presumably finds himself forced to say, I’ll have the poached lobster for dinner, but don’t wake me for dessert—just leave the ice cream sundae next to my bed, are totally beyond his control. “I’m not involved in any of those decisions [to fly first or business class],” Pruitt told the Union Leader. “Those are all made by the [security] detail.”