Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt has been confirmed as the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Senate votes came in at 52 - 46 at the end of last week. Two Democrats, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, voted in favor of his confirmation. If they had stuck to the values of the Democratic Party, Pruitt would not have been confirmed. Both Democratic senators happen to be from coal-rich states, which most certainly seems to have every intention on weakening the EPA. One Republican voted against Pruitt.
The EPA
Limiting and controlling the amount of pollution released into America's air, land, and water is the main priority of the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has spent much of his career actually suing the EPA, unsuccessfully. It is quite baffling that he would wish to lead the organization that he has consistently fought with over the recent years. He has gained massive support from many climate-change denying organizations, which are mostly funded by the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers just so happen to be two of the world's leading fossil fuel moguls. Tea Party Republicans have introduced a new House bills that aims to completely abolish the EPA by 2018. Pruitt will most likely attempt to remove the EPA's authority over greenhouse gas emissions as well.
Defunding and gag orders
In his first few weeks as acting president, Donal Trump has set his eyes on the government branches that protection America's environment. He has blocked all funding and government grants to the Environmental Protection Agency and successfully changed the head of their department to a climate-change denier backed by fossil fuel money.
He also issued executive orders gagging both the EPA and the National Parks Service. These two organizations have been banned from exercising their freedom speech via social media. The NPS received a lot of attention for essentially ignoring this gag order and continuing to post on Twitter about climate change until their account was forcibly shut down.
On April 29, the People's Climate March is set to allow conservationists, scientists, and nature lovers to voice their strong opinions against the current administration's attack on the environment. If you are one of the million Americans who doesn't want to see the EPA get shut down, you may call your local senator.
