Pruitt on Irma—-Now’s Not the Time to Discuss Climate Change

Before Hurricane Irma became the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. in  two weeks on Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extended a fuel waiver for 38 states through the end of the month.

The waiver focuses on summer reformulated fuel requirements through Sept. 30 said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in an interview.

 “It was important to send a message I think to the citizens of Florida but also those producing gasoline they would have certainty to the end of September with respect to these issues,” Pruitt said in an interview. “And we’ll do it beyond that obviously if necessary. We have the authority to do that.”

Late in the week, the EPA started an assessment of 80 Superfund sites ranging from Miami to North Carolina preparing for how they could be affected by the storm.

Some still want to connect the hurricanes to climate change and when asked about it on CNN, Pruitt said, it wasn’t the time to discuss such a thing.

“To have any kind of focus on the cause and effect of the storm; versus helping people, or actually facing the effect of the storm is misplaced,” he stated.

Pruitt said the government should be focusing on making sure people have access to clean water and protecting the Superfund sites.