If You’re in the Planet-Wrecking Business, Do It In the Dark

If I gave you the task of erasing half a century’s worth of progress in environmental protections in favor of corporate profits, would you:

a) Do it out in the open, where all Americans can see the steps you’re taking to destroy their children’s health, or

b) Keep it all a closely guarded secret, making it almost impossible for the public to understand what you’re doing?

If you said b), you have what it takes to work in the Trump Administration’s EPA.

New York Times Eric Lipton was interviewed last week by Terry Gross on the syndicated radio show Fresh Air.  Lipton recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request, and the results show that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and his staff have gone to great lengths to keep the public and the news media at a distance.  In particular, they refuse to reveal Pruitt’s schedule to the press, making it hard for them to cover his activities, and they obstruct all attempts to put Pruitt in a position, e.g., a town hall meeting, where he would have to deal with tough questions from real people.

Now, we learned that the EPA is barring The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from today’s national summit in Washington, DC on harmful water contaminants.

These people may be despicable human beings, but they’re no fools.  Investigative journalists like Lipton would love to take Pruitt to task for what he’s doing on a daily basis to our waterways and skies; in fact, journalists say that there is a new wave of enthusiasm for the professional, now that the stakes are so high.  But information is the lifeblood of the industry, and, with the EPA, it’s in extremely short supply.