Pruitt & Zinke Avoiding Tough Questions

A look at the schedules and media appearances of Trump’s EPA head Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reveals that these appointees -- responsible for protecting public health, the environment, and our public lands -- are for the most part refusing to speak with the general public and, instead, sticking by the side of the fossil fuel industry and right-wing media as they push polluter interests at the expense of our families’ health.

The Washington Post reports today that Zinke’s schedule shows that he has “held more than a half-dozen meetings with executives from nearly two dozen oil and gas firms during the period [since he became secretary], including BP America, Chevron, and ExxonMobil. He also spent time with the American Petroleum Institute, the Western Energy Alliance, and Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm.” At the same time, Zinke has apparently spoken with as few as two reporters from mainstream publications, preferring to go on outlets such as Fox News (five times in two months), Breitbart, and National Review.

Last night, Pruitt canceled his on-the-record presentation at the Hoover Institute. Pruitt’s media exposure, meanwhile, has reportedly limited his public interactions almost exclusively to FOX News or its affiliates, where, according to E&E News, he has appeared at least eight times since April 1. For diversity, Pruitt has also spoken with right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt and “the media arm of the Heritage Foundation.” His choices are no doubt driven in part by the fact that his appearance on CNBC’s "Squawk Box,” where he said falsely and in contradiction to science that human activity was not "a primary contributor to the global warming that we see," provoked such awful national headlines and exposure that he simply can’t stand the heat of any actual look at his policies.

And let’s not even get started on Pruitt’s meetings with industry….