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Monday, February 13th, 2017

EPA Halves Staff Attending Environmental Conference In Alaska

Author:     Rachel Waldholz and Bill Chappell
Source:    
Publication Date:     February 10, 20178:07 AM ET
 Link: EPA Halves Staff Attending Environmental Conference In Alaska
Stephan:   Scott Pruitt has spent much the the past couple of decades doing what he could as a climate change denier who sought to limit or eliminate the agency he now heads. He holds the post because the President is also a climate change denier. The result is predictable, and here it is.

Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency’s presence at an environmental conference in Alaska this week was cut in half, after the Trump administration’s transition officials ordered the change. The agency had helped to plan the Alaska Forum on the Environment — but days before it was to start, word came that half of the EPA’s 34 planned attendees wouldn’t be making the trip.

“We were informed that EPA was directed by the White House transition team to minimize their participation in the Alaska Forum on the Environment to the extent possible,” forum director Kurt Eilo says.

The change has created awkward scenes at the conference, particularly at events meant to highlight the EPA’s role in Alaska, a state known for both its pristine ecosystems and its oil production.

More than a thousand people attend the multiday event in downtown Anchorage each year, and the EPA is normally a major partner. This year, agency officials were scheduled to take part in about 30 sessions on everything from drinking water and sanitation in rural Alaska to climate change […]

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