Scott Pruitt delivers a multimillion gift to Trump adviser Carl Icahn

Mark Sumner

Daily Kos Staff

Monday April 30, 2018 · 8:11 AM PDT

2018/04/30 · 08:11

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 03: Chairman of Icahn Enterprises Carl Icahn participates in a panel discussion at the New York Times 2015 DealBook Conference at the Whitney Museum of American Art on November 3, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for New York Times)

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When EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt appeared before two House committees last week, the vast majority of Republican time was spent praising Pruitt and chiding Democrats to dare ask about how he was spending his agency’s money. But there was one point where Republicans did squabble—about which oil refineries should get waivers from having to meet their EPA obligations. Some Republicans, like West Virginia Republican David McKinley, were concerned about the plight of the poor folks who own “small, boutique refineries.” Others, including an appropriately Texas-sized contingent from Texas, were more worried about “traditional refineries.” Meaning huge.

As it turns out, Pruitt wasn’t particularly sorting for the cutest little refineries, or the beefiest refineries. As Reuters reveals, Pruitt was looking for those refineries owned by friends of Donald Trump.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter.

The waiver enables Icahn’s CVR Energy Inc to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The regulation is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation’s gasoline and diesel each year.

Pruitt’s gift to Icahn puts millions more in the billionaire’s pocket, and the only cost is a crapload of additional pollution in the American air … and a small donation from every American corn farmer who just, knowing or not, contributed to helping Trump’s friend Icahn get a little richer. Thanks, farmers.

The exemption for CVR’s Wynnewood, Oklahoma, plant prompted fresh criticism from the powerful corn lobby, which already has accused Trump’s EPA of over-using the hardship waiver program in a way that hurts demand for ethanol.

Refineries are running at record levels and generating record profits, but Pruitt is granting them “hardship” exemptions from environmental rules using options that were supposed to be restricted to a national emergency. But of course, Icahn is not just Trump’s friend. He’s also Pruitt’s friend.

An early supporter of Trump’s 2016 presidential run and a key supporter on Wall Street, Icahn had met with Pruitt when Pruitt was being vetted in late 2016 for the EPA administrator job, according to news reports at the time.

Does he have a nice townhouse? Say … three bedrooms, Georgian decor, no more than $50 bucks a night?

A small reminder: This isn't the first time that Icahn has benefited from his association with Trump.

Federal prosecutors are looking into the role played by Carl C. Icahn, the billionaire investor, in advising the Trump administration on regulatory issues that had the potential to affect the finances of a company he owns.

Being pals with Trump is the gift that keeps on giving, even when you’re supposed to be under federal investigation.

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