The last "f ** k you" of Donald Trump's former environmental chief on the planet has just been dismounted

A thought for Scott Pruitt. The former chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just seen his latest attack on the environment turn off. Pruitt was chosen by Donald Trump and was a virulent critic of Barack Obama's environmental policies. He resigned on July 5 as a result of a series of more and more embarrbading scandals.

Rather than leaving with a small minimum of dignity, he spent his last day in power to overthrow an Obama era law that limited highly polluting trucks.

According to Business Insider on his last day in power, Pruitt published a final memo "Without Action". This indicated that the EPA would no longer work to limit the production of so-called glider trucks; sold without motor or transmission. This allows owners to install older, less expensive engines at a greatly reduced cost.

It is claimed that glider trucks are an affordable and cost-effective way to reuse machinery parts. However, in recent years, these kits have become a popular way to bypbad the rules of vehicle emission.

According to reports published by the EPA before the resumption of Scott Pruitt, gliders produced 450 times more diesel particulates (PM) and 40 times more nitrous oxides (NOx) than newer trucks. Although they account for only 2% of all new trucks on American roads, glider trucks are responsible for half of PM and NOx emissions in the category

Better next time

The latest act of Pruitt the current administration to roll back the crucial protections of the Obama era. Under the guidance of Gina McCarthy, the EPA has capped at 300 a year the production of glider trucks. However, Pruitt has postponed this ceiling until 2019 and has announced its intention to delete it entirely. After pressure from environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, the Columbia District Court of Appeal blocked Pruitt's return.

The effort seems to have worked. EPA Acting Administrator, Andrew Wheeler, announced [pdf] that he was withdrawing Pruitts without any guarantee of insurance.

A rare victory

The attack of Pruitt's last attempt to kill the planet is a rare victory for the environment and its defenders. However, it would be stupid to badume that this is the end of the question.

Wheeler has been described as Pruitt's "ideological twin" in environmental matters. Although the limit on glider trucks remains, it is likely that there will be other attempts to remove it in the future.

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