Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt provided oil and gas producers in Utah with an exemption from smog rules after he took charge of the agency, newly released emails show, Politico reported.
The Sierra Club obtained the emails in a lawsuit over a public records request.
“The public is being shut out of the decisions that affect the air we all breathe while polluters have Pruitt at their beck and call whenever they ask to throw out a lifesaving protection,” said Matt Gravatt, the associate legislative director at the Sierra Club, the report said.
Industry lobbyist Marc Himmelstein provided talking points for Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, the House Natural Resources chairman.
“We ask the Agency to develop a streamlined permitting solution for future development of the Basin,” the points said, referring to the Uinta Basin in Utah, which was not meeting smog or ozone standards.
In April, the EPA made that proposal. An amendment would provie a “permanent mechanism” to streamline authorizations in the Basin area.
Email records show senior staffers at the EPA also exchanged scores of messages with top lobbyists for the fossil fuel, agriculture, and chemicals industries, and the new emails show the consideration that top agency staff members gave to energy companies, Politico reported.
Pruitt’s actions as EPA administrator have come under scrutiny. He and his aides kept “secret” calendars to hide controversial meetings or calls with industry representatives and others, CNN reported Monday night.
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