Statements

Trump’s EPA Budget Cuts Will Hit Lower-Income Communities of Color Hardest

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

The Trump administration’s plan to eliminate funding for environmental justice programs will increase the already outsized burden of toxic pollution borne by lower-income communities of color, EWG President Ken Cook said.

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It Didn't Take Long: Trump’s First Environmental Assault Endangers Drinking Water of 100 Million Americans

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

WASHINGTON – With Scott Pruitt now installed as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, President Trump has moved quickly to strike a vital safeguard aimed at protecting the drinking water of 100 million Americans.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order today requiring the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA to eviscerate the Clean Water Rule – which President Obama signed in 2015 to protect the drinking water sources of roughly 100 million Americans from industrial and agriculture pollution.

Key Issues:

Farming

EWG: Trump’s EPA Budget Cuts Will Be Disaster for Clean Water, Air

Monday, February 27, 2017

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s massive cuts to the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency will cripple the agency’s ability to protect drinking water and air from polluters, and safeguard Americans from exposure to toxic chemicals and pesticides, said Scott Faber, EWG's senior vice president for government affairs.

The following is a statement from Faber:

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Citing Too Much Work, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Moves to Block Remaining Pruitt Emails

Friday, February 24, 2017

After sitting on an open records request for more than a year, the Oklahoma attorney general’s office – occupied until a week ago by Scott Pruitt, now head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – now says it’s too busy to release more of the emails showing Pruitt’s cozy relationship with the fossil fuel industry. EWG President Ken Cook said he wasn’t surprised.

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EWG: Latest Trump Executive Order Will Put Food Safety, Air, Water and Public Health in Peril

Friday, February 24, 2017

President Trump and his top aide, Steve Bannon, are charging ahead with their plans to “deconstruct the administrative state,” by threatening vital protections that safeguard food, drinking water, air and public health, said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs.

Key Issues:

Farming

EWG: ‘Long Chain of Love Letters’ Between Pruitt and Fossil Fuel Industry

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Thousands of emails between the Oklahoma attorney general’s office and the fossil fuel industry reveal in detail how the state’s former Attorney General Scott Pruitt – now head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – coordinated his attacks on the EPA with oil and gas companies.

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BREAKING: EPA Nominee Ordered to Release Industry Emails

Thursday, February 16, 2017

An Oklahoma state judge today ordered Scott Pruitt, the state’s attorney general and President Trump’s nominee for EPA administrator, to release some 3,000 emails between his office and the fossil fuel industry, under a lawsuit filed by the Center for Media and Democracy. The judge gave the attorney general’s office until next Tuesday, Feb. 21, to comply with the order, lending urgency to the growing call for a postponement of the Senate’s vote on Pruitt’s confirmation, scheduled for Friday.

Key Issues:

Children's Health

Dear Senator: Last Chance to Stand Up for Clean Water, Air, Public Health

Thursday, February 16, 2017

The Senate is poised to vote tomorrow to install the worst nominee for Environmental Protection Agency administrator in history: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. His record and statements disqualify him from being entrusted with protecting the nation’s drinking water, air and environment. On the eve of the vote, EWG urges senators to stop and think about what’s at stake.

Key Issues:

Children's Health

Senate Should Postpone Pruitt Vote Until Review of Industry Emails

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

EWG joined several members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in urging Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to postpone a vote on Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s confirmation to be Environmental Protection Agency administrator. The request comes as an Oklahoma court has scheduled a hearing for later this week over a lawsuit filed by the Center for Media and Democracy, which seeks disclosure of email communications between Pruitt’s office and oil and gas industry officials.

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