It should be no surprise that as Scott Pruitt turns the EPA into his own private fortress, drops scientists from the science advisory panels, and continues to scrub climate change data, that a lot of good people simply no longer want to be part of his evil parody of an environmental agency.
More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.
Of the employees who have quit, retired or taken a buyout package since the beginning of the year, more than 200 are scientists. An additional 96 are environmental protection specialists, a broad category that includes scientists as well as others experienced in investigating and analyzing pollution levels.
On the one hand, it’s disturbing to think that the people who have the most knowledge are leaving the department. But there was never any sign that Pruitt and his team were listening to reason in the first place. The responsibility for regulations has been turned over to fossil fuel industry lobbyists and Pruitt’s banker pals.
Why would anyone with a serious concern about the environment, or the nation, want to stay around to watch Pruitt’s growing private army and his pollution-promotion trips around the world?
The departures reflect poor morale and a sense of grievance at the agency, which has been criticized by President Trump and top Republicans in Congress as bloated and guilty of regulatory overreach.
And that was before EPA employees learned that the administration is still conducting its own hunt to uncover those who are insufficiently loyal.
Some private texts were enough to cost an FBI agent his position on the Mueller team. But Trumpists are engaged in a full bore purge at the EPA.
… unease is likely to deepen following revelations that Republican campaign operatives were using the Freedom of Information Act to request copies of emails from E.P.A. officials suspected of opposing Mr. Trump and his agenda.
Budget cuts had already forced a major reduction in the size of the EPA staff under President Obama. But the current round of departures is costing the agency the most experience and most vital experts.
Within the agency, science in particular is taking a hard hit. More than 27 percent of those who left this year were scientists, including 34 biologists and microbiologists; 19 chemists; 81 environmental engineers and environmental scientists; and more than a dozen toxicologists, life scientists and geologists.
These are losses that leave the EPA utterly incapable of properly doing its job to protect the air, water, and soil of the United States. But of course, Scott Pruitt has no intention of actually holding manufacturers accountable.
So the real loss happened as soon as Trump took office. Everything else is just drawing an underline below the damage.
