Before we get started, I want to clarify one thing. I believe in the laws and theories of science. I think science does the best job describing the world around us, and is responsible for most of human achievement. As a result, I trust the scientific consensus when it comes to global warming. I believe it's happening, it's primarily caused by humans, it's not slowing down, we need to heavily invest in new technologies to combat and stop it, and that most people who disagree with this are idiotic, simple minded, mouth-breathing nut jobs who don't believe in facts.
With that minor clarification out of the way, I want to give it up to our main man Scott Pruitt. Our sneaky little former Attorney General has done an excellent job in his new role of Executive Destroyer of the EPA. According to this report in Politico, Pruitt – who, friendly reminder, is basically working on behalf of Oklahoma Oil Overlords Larry Nichols and Harold Hamm – is one of the key players who helped convinced the president to (likely) exit the Paris Accord:
Inside the struggle to sway Trump on Paris
Donald Trump’s chief strategist and EPA administrator maneuvered for months to get the president to exit the Paris climate accord, shrewdly playing to his populist instincts and publicly pressing the narrative that the nearly 200-nation deal was effectively dead — boxing in the president on one of his highest-profile decisions to date.
Steve Bannon and Scott Pruitt have sought to outsmart the administration’s pro-Paris group of advisers, including Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who were hoping the president could be swayed by a global swell of support for the deal from major corporations, U.S. allies, Al Gore and even the pope. But some of that pro-Paris sentiment wound up being surprisingly tepid, according to White House aides who had expected that European leaders would make a stronger case during Trump’s trip abroad earlier this month…
That's great. Nothing to worry about there! We just have a maniacal alt-right nationalist and greedy cutthroat capitalist working together to Make America Great Again! That doesn't sound like the plot to some upcoming dystopian-future novel or anything.
The article, which is a long, good read, details how Bannon and Pruitt worked together to influence Trump, and kick the pro-Paris sympathizing Team Ivanka to the curb like a Syrian refugee:
Pruitt and Bannon have told others repeatedly for months that Trump will pull out of the agreement, as they aggressively pushed a narrative that they hoped would prove to be true, even as White House aides continued to debate the issue.
“Some of the debate was for show to help the moderates feel like they had their say,” said one person who has spoken to Pruitt. “Pruitt has believed all along that this was never in doubt.”
Pruitt, who frequently attacked the EPA's regulations in court when he was Oklahoma’s attorney general, used his new post as EPA administrator to orchestrate an aggressive campaign to marshal conservative opposition to the Paris agreement.
He bashed the deal during a closed-door April meeting of the National Mining Association’s executive committee, telling the group that the agreement would hurt the economy. Pruitt’s staff also urged lawmakers and conservative groups to publicly criticize the agreement, sources familiar with the issue told POLITICO, which had the effect of increasing public pressure on Trump.
Pruitt and Bannon’s anti-Paris campaign was meant to counter a separate offensive by members of the administration who supported staying in the pact, including Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.
In recent months, Ivanka Trump set up a process in which the president would regularly hear from people who supported remaining in the agreement, according to administration officials.
The remain camp believed, perhaps naively, that Trump could be influenced by the support the Paris deal has received from major corporations, including Exxon Mobil, which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson led for more than a decade.
Wow. Scott Pruitt has more clout than Exxon? You know that has to make Larry Nichols, Harold Hamm and all the other Oklahoma Oil Overlords proud. Expect the fracking fluid to be flowing at Vast.
Anyway, you can check out the entire article here. I'd hurry up and read it while we still have a planet. Also, Pruitt isn't the only Oklahoman doing a good job in Trump's America. Senator Snowball's doing great, too.
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