Scott Pruit has been approved by Senate

[La Lioness Priyanka]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/us/politics/scott-pruitt-environmental-protection-agency.html?_r=0

Senators voted 52-46 to confirm Mr. Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general who has built a career out of suing to block the E.P.A.’s major environmental rules, and has called for the dissolution of much of the agency’s authority. One Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, crossed party lines to vote against Mr. Pruitt, while two Democrats, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp, both from coal-rich states where voters generally oppose environmental rules, voted for him.

Senate Democrats railed all night on the Senate floor against Mr. Pruitt and urged Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, to delay the confirmation vote until after next Tuesday, when the Oklahoma attorney general’s office is under order to release about 3,000 of Mr. Pruitt’s emails related to his communications with the fossil fuel industry.

Hey, do you think HRC would have nominate Pruitt? How many people lied when they said 'they were just the same?'

[narnian60]

1. This is so sickening.

[CousinIT]

2. GOP wanted to RAM him in there before those emails are seen next Tuesday

A judge ordered his emails to various polluter interests be made public. Now, ONLY AFTER his ass is shoved in there, will we learn how much polluter ass he kissed (from currently available info - a LOT) while OK AG.

[dalton99a]

3. Yep.

[VMA131Marine]

4. He still won't be able to save the coal industry...

Unless the government starts actively subsidizing it to make it competitive with natural gas and renewable: both are now cheaper sources of electrical power. The solar industry employs twice as many people as work in coal extraction, it's only a matter of time before the strength of its lobby exceeds that of the coal industry.

[n2doc]

10. Exactly

We are already seeing attacks on Solar and Wind to try and keep them from supplanting Coal and Nuclear. The problem is that the older industries have better lobbyists and more bought and paid for CONgresspersons. Wind for example is a major and growing economic and jobs force in Texas, but you aren't seeing Texas' congressional delegation supporting it.

[modrepub]

12. Right

Bringing more coal to market will only decrease the price if there is no demand. NG combined cycle power plants are twice as efficient as comparable coal units, need fewer workers, require less pollution control equipment and don't need to dispose of tones of coal ash. It's really the same with oil. Both are predicated on ever increasing prices, which at some point become unsustainable.

[VMA131Marine]

14. You are correct.

NG power plants are gas turbines; basically stationary jet engines. They are incredibly compact and reliable compared to a coal plant that uses boilers to generate steam to drive steam turbines. That technology is over 100 years old and it is disappearing from power plants for the same reason it's basically gone from ships: it's complicated and labour intensive to keep running. Not to mention it's incredibly dirty and produces tons of hazardous waste.

[NewJeffCT]

16. If he gets rid of regulations on coal

it will help increase the profits of the owners of the coal mines and allow them to contribute more money to the GOP.

Of course, that's short-term. The workers will soon get sicker and the locals will have their water increasingly poisoned and the industry's death spiral will accelerate... and, none of the workers will have health insurance and the remaining healthy ones will not have been trained in any new industries.

[VMA131Marine]

17. Coal is in the same position as the whaling industry a century ago.

It wasn't that there were no more whales, it was the discovery of petroleum that killed it. Coal is a geriatric industry. There isn't anymore efficiency to be wrung out of it and the highest quality resources are pretty well played out. The upside for solar and wind is much higher and only an idiot would deny this (Trump being the idiot).

[jeffreyi]

5. Crap

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. C'mon, surely we are no better off if NONE of this is happening and if we STILL

protect air and water and Social Security and Medicare and ACA and Medicaid and overtime and minimum wage and on and on, right?

Election was stolen, if there is no constitutional way to resolve that, I dont think I want to participate anymore.

I am literally staring at my tax return, I owe substantially to both Fed and State, I pay way more in taxes than the president does, by the way.

Since he pays none that is easy to do.

I will pay my taxes this time because I want to support what Obama started, but this time next year I doubt I will be alive to pay them but if I am I think we ALL need to do a re-think.

[BannonsLiver]

7. I just donated $100 to the Sierra Club

Will be doing some research on more orgs to donate to this weekend. I encourage others who are able to do the same.

[logosoco]

8. pardon me for a moment here

but fuck this guy and everyone who voted for him.

[katmondoo]

9. The whole idea is to get rid of all government agencies

In order to do that every post has to be filled with someone who hates the agency they are in charge of. Education- get someone totally in competent, EPA- have to get someone who hates all these regulations to protect the environment so on and so on until there are no longer any agencies left to protect the people. Sickening, this is what awaits us.

[edhopper]

11. We are all

Flint, Michigan now.

[jimlup]

13. So this shows the numbers

we had better plan on winning 4 new Senate seats in 2018.

[BeckyDem]

15. Disgusting.