Posted on 03/03/2018 12:28:02 PM PST by Jim Robinson
In his first year as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt has already transformed the agency in many ways. He spoke exclusively to The Daily Signal before addressing attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual Reagan Dinner. An edited transcript of the interview is below.
Rob Bluey: You gave a speech at CPAC last year where you were just at the beginning of your tenure at the Environmental Protection Agency, and you outlined some of the things that you wanted to do. Here we are a year later, you’ve repealed, taken back, 22 regulations at a savings at $1 billion, a significant contribution to the U.S. economy, as President Donald Trump talked about in his speech. What does that mean?
Scott Pruitt: Busy year. And it was great to be at CPAC about two weeks after having been sworn in last year. And I talked last year about the future ain’t what it used to be, that Yogi Berra quote that I cited about the change that was gonna take place at the agency and I think we’ve been about that change the last year. Focusing on rule of law, restoring process and order, making sure that we engage in cooperative federalism as we engage in regulation.
But the key to me is that weaponization of the agency that took place in the Obama administration, where the agency was used to pick winners and losers. Those days are over.
You know, to be in Pennsylvania as I was early in my term...
...and delivered the message from the president that the war on coal is over. That was a tremendous message for them, emotion that I saw on their faces.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...
Great! He’s free to be AG now!
“Can you imagine, in the first instance, an agency of the federal government, a department of the U.S. government, declaring war on a sector of your economy? Where is that in the statute? Where does that authority exist? It doesn’t.”
It’s all about attitude. Here Pruitt shows he has the right attitude.
The problem is the agency still exists. It is a potential weapon to be used again by the next ideolog who gets into office. It needs to be permanently neutered.
As I see it, Congress delegated its law making powers to an agency that had no effective controls over what it did and who it did it to. No agency should have the power to decide on who or what technology wins and who loses.
There’s no need for tariffs if there is fair trade. Trump is a fighter. Where he sees unfair trade he’ll impose tariffs. And we’ve been taking a screwing on trade without fighting back for a long time.
oops wrong thread.
Still need to fire existing folks or it just happens again.
Also need to loudly decry their prior studies that basically started with the desired end result.
I’m glad I don’t have to hide the puddle in my backyard now - ping!
I’m from coal country. West Virginia. Such good people there. It hurt to see them attacked.
Yup. We’ve been in an economic trade war with China for decades. Only we haven’t been fighting back while they decimated our industrial base. Wiped out entire industries. Trump is fighting back and bringing back capital, manufacturing, steel, coal, gas & oil... and JOBS!!
There is NO constitutional authority for the EPA. The constitution gives the feds no authority to meddle in "environmental" matters. Those are states' issues.
Amen. And a whole host of other unconstitutional agencies.
The states need to decide if they want to keep or get rid of the constitutionally undefined EPA, appropriately amending the Constitution if they want to keep it.
The states then need to get rid of the ill-conceived 17th Amendment, not only to make whatever they decide about the EPA last as long as possible, but also to make Pres. Trump’s vision for MAGA last as long as possible.
The 16th Amendment can disappear too.
I agree on there being no authority ... for ANY of the EPA ... sadly the Constitution hasn’t meant diddly since FDR.
That’s the thing about Arbitrary government so loved by way too many: we never even get an actual lawful vote (with an amendment process) for these sweeping changes. You would think that if the arguments for why these new functions were so obvious and compelling, as those who just do them anyway Constitution be damned seem to believe, those pushing them would welcome great debates among We the People for what sort of Republic we are to be. Well, you might unless you realize just how hostile even the early so-called “progressives” were to the Republic we were meant to be. How much We the People are deemed sheep by the Left.
Now, as for these doings....
A billion of reduced cost is nice, much MUCH better than many billions of increased costs we would’ve got under Hillary, but it is not in itself significant to the economy yet.
Speculative scoring relative what might have been, how much worse it could have been is valid for one, maybe two, years. But it shouldn’t be accepted for long.
We need many billions of actual roll backs from what was to make these truly significant. In particular there needs to be attention to lessening the burden on small business and private proprietorships.
If we changed campaign finance laws so that lobbyists could not bribe our politician this problem would be solved.
Politicians would return to looking out for their own states (no crossing state lines) - the place where they would and should get their campaign funds.
Where is that in the statute? Where does that authority exist? It doesn’t.
Can we clone Scott Pruitt.... please... please... pretty please with sugar on it?
Amen.
The good people of West Virginia have suffered enough. Thank God for Trump.
If we changed campaign finance laws so that lobbyists could not bribe our politician this problem would be solved.
We already have those laws. It is simply not possible to prevent lobbying without eliminating the First Amendment.
It sounds like a solution, but it really is not.
The real problem is the size and power of the government, mostly federal, but also states.
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