Cheap Seats 2017

Do it, Pruitt - 01/11

By Rich Trzupek
  I’ve probably written this a hundred times in this column over the years, but I only consider myself an expert in two subject areas: 1) the ability to make a truly kick-ass Hollandaise sauce from scratch, and 2) environmental science and policy. So, whereas your humble correspondent is usually speaking in his annoying yet still lovable, South Side Chicago wise-ass persona, this week I don my Cloak of Authority to discuss all of the terrible things that are going to happen to the environment in America over the next four years.
  Short answer: nothing. However, my esteemed publisher has barrels of ink to clear out of inventory, so perhaps we should expand upon that a bit.
  The environment will continue to get cleaner in America over the next four years. I have no doubt about it. The environment will continue to get cleaner because, since Nixon, it always has, no matter what letter appears after the commander-in-chief’s name. 
  The only difference is this: if the letter is an “R” environmental NGOs and their supporters on the left will refuse to recognize the continuing progress, but if the letter is a “D” those very same people will trip over each other in the race to congratulate the administration for its commitment to save the planet.
  I’m so certain that we will continue to make environmental progress under President-elect Trump that I recently put my money where my mouth is. In a guest column that I published at Breitbart.com (yeah, yeah, I know: Breitbart! Horrors! Eeeek! Run Away!) I offered to bet any environmental NGO (that’s “non-governmental organization) or someone associated with an environmental NGO that the America’s air will be cleaner when Trump’s first term comes to an end in January 2021 that it was when he takes the oath of office in January 2016.
  I have offered to personally donate $1,000 to the Environmental NGO taking the bet if I am proven wrong in 2021. But, if proven correct, the Environmental NGO must donate $1,000 to the Heartland Institute, whom I help out as a policy advisor.
  If you search for the piece, you’ll see that I identify three very logical tests using data that EPA has kept for decades and will continue to record in order to fairly define “cleaner” vs “dirtier”. Simply put, the three things I assert are: 1) Scott Pruitt’s EPA will not relax any ambient air quality standards, 2) ambient air quality will continue to improve across the nation, and 3) emissions will continue to decrease across the nation.
  No environmental group has responded to my offer and I don’t expect that one actually will. The last thing they want their members and donors focused on for the next four years is the actual, measurable quality of the environment in America. If people focused on that, some of them are bound to wonder in Big Environment hasn’t been selling them a bill of goods for years.
  Pruitt’s EPA can no more stop continued environmental progress in America than any other EPA administrator, nor – I am certain – does he wish to do so. 
  First, the vast majority of every day environmental regulatory activities are firmly in the hands of the states. Thus, even if Pruitt told all of his employees to take a leave of absence for a year, there would still be tens of thousands of bureaucrats at the state level keeping the gears of environmental regulation grinding along and there’s nothing Pruitt could do to stop it.
  Second, the vast majority of human-created air pollution in America these days comes from two kinds of sources: power plants and transportation. All of those old coal-fired power plants that shut down over the last eight years aren’t going to re-open. Instead, more will close. We’ve got cheap natural gas and we know how to build natural gas fired power plants that are more than twice as efficient than the best coal plants. I do feel bad for the miners who lost their jobs in the coal states, but their ship has – unfortunately – sailed.
  Similarly, new fleet economy standards aren’t changing and, even if they did, it wouldn’t matter. A massive shift is taking place in transportation manufacturing in this country. Trucks and autos are moving from being primarily built of steel to being primarily built of aluminum. 
  There’s no stopping it. The plants to produce automotive grade aluminum are already being built. New auto and truck designs have been approved. There will be a substantial decrease in the weight of cars and trucks in years to come and, as a result, more and more decreases in emissions from this sector (as it was under Obama, as it was under W, as it was under Clinton, etc., etc., etc.).
  I happen to think Scott Pruitt will be a great EPA administrator, but it really doesn’t matter. He can nap in his office every day over the next four years and American environmental quality will continue to improve.
  I bet.
  E-mail: rich@examinerpublications.com
  www.threedonia.com