Infighting by environmentalists over Scott Pruitt directive

Environmentalists are still fighting over decisions made when Scott Pruitt was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

They wanted him out of office and got their wish, but now can’t decide on one topic of contention.

POLITICO’s Morning Energy Report says the EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council can’t agree on what to do after a federal judge earlier this month found fault with former Administrator Pruitt’s directive barring grant recipients from sitting on advisory committees. The judge had asked for their suggestions by Friday, but EPA and the NRDC said in a late Friday filing that they were “unable to agree” on what to do next.

So they will brief on the dispute, with the NRDC kicking things off this Friday, EPA following up on March 13 and the NRDC getting the last word on March 20.

It’s not yet clear precisely what each side wants; neither would tell ME what their position is. But the smart money is on the NRDC seeking an end to the ban and EPA wanting to keep it in place while either appealing or writing further explanation to satisfy the judge’s ruling.

Pruitt, Oklahoma’s former Attorney General, served as EPA Administrator from February 2017 until July of 2018 when he resigned under what was often described as a “cloud of ethics scandals.”

Source: POLITICO’s Morning Energy Report