July 10, 2017

Trump's Horrendous EPA Chief Wins Golden Padlock Award for Govt. Secrecy @alternet

Trump's Horrendous EPA Chief Wins Golden Padlock Award for Govt. Secrecy @alternet:

"As a government official, Scott Pruitt does a stellar job at keeping secrets. So far, he's evaded open record requests about his communications with the fossil fuel industry and has directed the EPA to wipe climate change data from its website. Pruitt has become so adept at keeping the public in the dark that Investigative Reporters and Editors, a grassroots group dedicated to improving the quality of investigative reporting, has awarded him the Golden Padlock Award, which recognizes "the most secretive publicly funded agency or person in the United States." In awarding him with this dubious distinction, IRE writes, "Scott Pruitt was selected for this honor for steadfastly refusing to provide emails in the public interest and removing information from public websites about key environmental programs." Pruitt's penchant for secrecy in public office stretches back to his tenure as attorney general of Oklahoma. It was normal for him to ignore public records requests while using a private email account to conduct government business. A New York Times report revealed that what Pruitt was hiding in his government account was a "secretive alliance" with oil company Devon Energy, one of the largest oil and gas companies in Oklahoma. Lawyers from Devon even wrote letters to the EPA in Pruitt's name and the company subsequently donated thousands to Pruitt's campaign."