Amidst swirling rumors of Executive Orders, newly minted EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt took the lectern on Tuesday in the Rachel Carson Green Room to address his new employees. His speech was the sort of bromide-laced sedative one would expect in an un-Trumped administration, which sadly made it nicer than anticipated. But still, to the EPA staffers, it was “condescending and hypocritical.”
After thanking the career staffers, Pruitt’s 11-minute talk managed to discuss the importance of process and the rule of law (implying the agency flaunted it prior to his joining) and giving industry the certainty it needs, without ever mentioning public health or climate change. He also went through a version of the federalism spiel he used at his confirmation hearing, to give his pro-polluter perspective a sheen of respectability by couching it in noble-sounding but ultimate industry-forgiving legalese. But at least the feared Executive Orders to pull back on climate, water and other regulations and otherwise reform the EPA in Trump/Pruitt/Putin/Koch’s image failed to materialize. For now.
Meanwhile, other agencies are still worrying about their future - especially, NASA, which may soon be targeted by budget reauthorization bills which would cut its climate science and Earth monitoring budget and have it refocus entirely on space.
We don’t know yet if Trump will sign the bill and reallocate resources to gut NASA’s climate work, but there’s little reason to believe he won’t. If he does, it sends the message that the administration and the GOP may not care that NASA is best suited to operate the many satellites necessary to gather information about our planet.
Instead of doing the data collection work that keeps people here on Earth safe, NASA will be charged with focusing entirely on sending people to Mars. Presumably, our plan is to ruin that planet as well.
Back here at home, journalists are continuing to poke and then prod at how closely Russia is working with Team Trump - particularly when it comes to the sanctions that, if lifted, would revive the $500 billion Exxon-Rosneft oil deal to drill in the Arctic. As a further sign of mutual goodwill, Russia has said it won’t push back if Trump decides to pull out of Paris, which is hardly surprising given Russia’s need for ice-free ports and the appeal of farming in Siberia.
But for those worried about the fate of US climate action, the EPA and NASA, you might be reassured by remembering a little bit of modern history.
NASA beat the Russians once.
With our support, hopefully they can do it again.
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