EDIT: Pruitt is being replaced by his deputy, Andrew Wheeler. More on him soon.
Living in the Trump era has made me more than a little paranoid. I think it’s a good thing that Pruitt is out, but I do not trust that he left for the obvious reasons. I would very much like to be wrong, but I doubt this will mean an end to Pruitt’s agenda, or to deliberate waste of resources. Twenty years ago, I think we could expect that Pruitt’s resignation would be followed by his incarceration, and some level of contrition from his defenders. Ten years ago, I would expect Pruitt to be replaced by somebody who is much more boring, and will push ahead the exact same agenda with less flambouyant corruption.
Now? Now I’m not so sure. For all I know, the “new normal” is escalation, and the next person will be Charles or David Koch, or Joe Barton.
This could be a victory, but I think it’s far too soon for celebration.
If you found this post useful or enjoyable, please share it, and please consider becoming a patron over at my Patreon page. Your donations make this blog possible, and even as little as one dollar per month adds up to make a difference. If you feel you can afford more than that, you can get access to all sorts of other content and perks! Your patronage allows me to put more of my time and energy into making this blog a useful resource. Thanks for reading!
The problem here is that he was booted out only because he was embarrassingly corrupt, not because he was inversely qualified for the job.
Early returns on Wheeler are not encouraging.
The Republicans will continue their quest of dismantling the regulatory and welfare state for the pleasure of rich people/industrialists like Charles Koch. One guy is gone, but nothing will change. In the meantime, this is happening: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/06/global-temperature-rises-could-be-double-those-predicted-by-climate-modelling
Headline: “Global temperature rises could be double those predicted by climate modelling / Researchers say sea levels could also rise by six metres or more even if 2 degree target of Paris accord met”
What is wrong with humanity? There is a crisis and nobody even cares! Are we really so easily “brainwashed” by vested interests? Is Climate Change at the same time too big for us and too slow for us to comprehend?
@ ^ alixmo :Scarily your line there seems disturbing accurate so far.
Ed Brayton has this blog post up :
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2018/07/06/pruitt-resigns-dont-cheer-his-replacement-is-worse/
saying Wheeler is a lot worse – competent evil vs obviously transparent and less competent evil :
Lots of people care. Unfortunately, lots of people have also been hoodwinked by the anti-nuclear green movement. Nuclear is our best hope by far to combat global warming, and environmentalists by and large worldwide are actually the group most responsible for ensuring that we won’t do anything about it in time because of their irrational resistance to nuclear power. Don’t fool yourself – on this issue, there is just as much pseudo-science and tribal echo-chamber thinking on both sides – e.g. the climate change deniers, and the people who push for non-nuclear green tech while opposing nuclear.