August 29, 2020
On August 12th six former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chiefs called for a “reset” at the agency after President Donald Trump’s first term, backing a detailed plan by former EPA staffers that include renouncing political influence in regulation according to an August 12, 2020 Associated Press report.
The current administrator, Andrew Wheeler, immediately rejected the recommendations, and his spokesman James Hewitt accused Wheeler’s predecessors of having “botched” environmental matters during their tenures.
Most living former EPA heads signed on; one notable exception was Trump’s first EPA chief, Scott Pruitt. The group – William Reilly, Lee Thomas, Carol Browner, Christine Todd Whitman, Lisa Jackson and Gina McCarthy – served under Republican and Democratic presidents.
The Environmental Protection Network, a bipartisan group of more than 500 former EPA senior managers and employees, crafted the hundreds of pages of recommendations for a change of course at the agency.
The group said the road map was meant to guide whatever administration the Nov. 3 presidential election puts in place, although many of the proposals are implicitly or explicitly critical of the Trump EPA’s actions. The former EPA heads’ accompanying statement did not mention Trump, but said they were “concerned about the current state of affairs at EPA.”
Hewitt, the EPA spokesman said Wheeler “is proud of our record addressing environmental problems impacting Americans.” He cited the EPA’s work on Superfund sites, lead contamination and air.
What this means to you
Six former EPA heads serving under Republican and Democratic presidents have called for a “reset” at the Environmental Protection Agency. They’ve crafted recommendations meant as a road map to guide whatever administration the Nov. 3 presidential election puts in place.
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