Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin and others on a subcommittee of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee will hear Tuesday from former administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Oversight and Investigations subcommittee plans the hearing entitled “Critical Mission: Former Administrators Address the Direction of the EPA.” The hearing will focus on how Democratic leadership …
The Inspector General for the Environmental Protection Agency has formally closed its investigation into some of the allegations against former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. It issued no findings against Pruitt. The specific probe in question focused on allegations that Pruitt, the former Oklahoma Attorney General, misused his federal position for personal gain. The claims alleged …
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, praised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for awarding grants to Brownfields sites in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Senator Inhofe authored the legislation to reauthorize the Brownfields program, which was signed into law on March 22, 2018. “The Brownfields program continues …
A former adviser to Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe when he chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has been hired by the Environmental Protection Agency. Jonathan Hackett will work out of the EPA’s Kansas City office and advise on renewable fuels. He started as a legislative clerk for the EPW committee in 2008, …
Nearly a year after Scott Pruitt resigned as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he is still hounded by the scandals that led to his departure. The latest is a call by the EPA’s inspector general to have the EPA recover “excessive” expenses by Pruitt. The IG recommended the EPA consider recovering $124,000 in …
In advance of the upcoming proposed rulemaking for the 2020 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) led a letter urging Administrator Wheeler to reset conventional biofuel to reflect market realities. The letter was signed by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Shelley …
Environmental groups aren’t as easily convinced as administrators of the EPA are about improvements of Oklahoma’s Tar Creek Superfund Site. Their skepticism comes after the EPA recently announced the removal of the site from the agency’s Administrators Emphasis Lists. The agency indicated Tar Creek had reached “important milestones.” But Rebecca Jim, executive director of the …
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt still has some issues nagging him back in Washington where he left amidst some ethics scandals. Federal ethics officials are balking at a $50-a-night Washington condo deal by Pruitt, the former Oklahoma Attorney General. The Associated Press reported the Office of Government Ethics said in a finding posted recently that …
From POLITICO’s Morning Energy Report—more information about former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt: REQUIRED READING? Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt received at least six unsolicited copies of “The Lorax” and four of “Global Warming for Dummies” but donated them, according to gift records released Monday by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The documents, obtained in response to …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it intends to spend $16 million a year on cleanup of Oklahoma’s Tar Creek Superfund Site. Working with the State and the Quapaw Nation, the EPa intends to open a five-year draft plan for goals of cleanup for a 30-day public review this summer. It will be the …
