Arnold Schwarzenegger: EPA’s Scott Pruitt Must Be Terminated

arnold
AP/Eric Risberg

Former Cailfornia governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a rare return to Sacramento last Thursday and declared that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt needed to be fired.

The Los Angeles Times reported that it was Schwarzenegger’s second dig at Pruitt in less than a week (original links):

“He is without any doubt the wrong person at that place,” former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said. “He does not represent the people. He only represents the special interests. He should be removed immediately.”

Schwarzenegger was in Sacramento to meet with seven state Assembly Republicans who support environmental protection policies. Last month, the former governor agreed to help the group in creating a new political action committee for electing Republicans in 2018.

It was not the former governor’s only jab at Pruitt …

Schwarzenegger told an audience at the state Air Resources Board Tuesday morning that Republican politics have changed since the days of the agency’s creation in 1968 — a law signed by Republican then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

“Fifty years later you have Trump appointing Pruitt to the EPA,” he said. “What happened? So sad.”

In his tenure at EPA, Pruitt has focused the agency on tackling immediate environmental concerns, and has pulled the agency back from more sweeping, utopian regulatory projects.

Upon taking office in February, he declared that the federal government’s role was not to stand in the way of economic growth.

“Staff should avoid abuses, avoid using guidance instead of regulation, and stop regulating through litigation. Moreover, make sure the EPA follows the letter of the law,” he said.

He has since come under fire for saying that panels of scientists should debate climate change, among other stances.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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