Sen. Inhofe: Huge EPA Budget Cuts Will Prevent Agency From 'Brainwashing Our Kids'
Snowball-throwing Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma has accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of releasing "propaganda" that is "brainwashing our kids."
Inhofe said the remarks during an interview on CNN's "New Day" as he discussed President Trump's drastic $2.8 billion cut to the EPA, or nearly a third of the agency's $8.1 billion current budget.
The Republican lawmaker said that the cuts—which would slash climate- and science-related research, grants, programs and agencies—are "good for the American people."
"We ought to make things clean," Inhofe continued. "But we ought to take all this stuff that comes out of the EPA that's brainwashing our kids, that is propaganda, things that aren't true, allegations."
Inhofe did not go into the specifics to back up his claim, but has said the "brainwashing" comment before. In a 2016 radio interview, he accused schools of brainwashing children.
"My own granddaughter came home one day and said … 'Popi, why is it you don't understand global warming?' I did some checking, and Eric, the stuff that they teach our kids nowadays, they are brainwash—you have to un-brainwash them when they get out…"
Later in the "New Day" interview, host Poppy Harlow asked Inhofe about his opinion of EPA head Scott Pruitt, who has sued the EPA more than a dozen times as Oklahoma Attorney General and stirred new controversy when he said that carbon dioxide is not the primary contributor to climate change, contrary to accepted science.
Inhofe defended Pruitt, saying the former AG was doing a "good job" trying to block "aggressive over-regulations ... that was very detrimental to our economy."
Going further, Harlow highlighted Oklahoma's alarming spate of induced-earthquakes likely caused by the injection of fracking wastewater into underground wells.
"It's the EPA that regulates that," she remarked. "Are you comfortable with [big EPA cuts] ... that may mean more of these earthquakes in your home state?"
Inhofe, a member and former chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee chairman, then incorrectly responded that wastewater disposal was the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, not the EPA.
"No, it is the EPA," Harlow shot back. To prove her point, she pulled up a graphic of mandates that states, "EPA regulates the construction, operation, permitting and closure of injection wells used to place fluids underground for storage or disposal."
Inhofe's statement after that is pretty excruciating to watch, at least in my opinion:
Inhofe is an outspoken climate change skeptic who threw a snowball across the Senate floor in Feb. 2015 to show that just because it's snowing, global warming isn't real.
"In case we have forgotten, because we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record, I ask the chair, do you know what this is?" Inhofe said then. "It's a snowball. And it's just from outside here. So it's very, very cold out. Very unseasonable."
In an op-ed published on USA TODAY on Wednesday, Inhofe praised the Trump administration's actions to roll back environmental regulations.
"This is just scratching the surface of the work ahead for President Trump as he seeks to lift the heavy hand of regulations by the federal government on the private sector, and it should be a signal to the American people that this country is again open for business," Inhofe wrote.
Yellowstone Grizzly Bears to Lose Endangered Species Protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone region on Thursday from the Endangered Species List. The decision comes despite serious concerns in the scientific community about a declining, isolated population with diminishing food resources and record-high mortalities, as well as strong opposition from an unprecedented number of Tribal Nations.
Southeast Is Ground Zero for Genetically Engineered Trees
By BJ McManama
ArborGen Corporation, a multinational conglomerate and leading supplier of seedlings for commercial forestry applications, has submitted an approval request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to deregulate and widely distribute a eucalyptus tree genetically engineered (GE) to be freeze tolerant. This modification will allow this GE variety to be grown in the U.S. Southeast. The reason this non-native and highly invasive tree has been artificially created to grow outside of its tropical environment is to greatly expand production capacity for the highly controversial woody biomass industry.
Think You're Eating '100% Natural' Chicken? Think Again
By Kari Hamerschlag
Many health conscious consumers are reducing their consumption of red meat in favor of chicken—especially products labeled and promoted as "100% natural"—believing they are a healthier option produced without routine antibiotics, artificial substances or other drugs.
Stephen Hawking: 'I Am Convinced That Humans Need to Leave Earth'
Stephen Hawking repeated his warning that humanity needs to leave Earth and colonize the moon, Mars or other planets in order for our species to survive the impending doom of climate change.
"We have given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change ... When we we have reached similar crises there has usually been somewhere else to colonize ... But there is no new world, no utopia around the corner," he said. "We are running out of space, and the only places to go to are other worlds."
Coal Boss Sues HBO Over John Oliver Show
Just like John Oliver predicted, Robert E. Murray has filed a lawsuit in response to the Last Week Tonight host's June 18 show about coal that devoted a large segment skewering the Murray Energy Corporation CEO.
The Republican coal baron and outspoken Donald Trump supporter is suing Oliver, HBO, Time Warner and the writers for the show, the Daily Beast reported.
It's So Hot in Arizona, Meteorologists Need New Weather Map Colors
It's so hot in the American Southwest that meteorologists are using unusual colors for their temperature maps.
As reported by MLive's Mark Torregrossa, with temperatures forecast to hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the Phoenix area, the folks at weatherbell.com had to use green for its Wednesday map because the other shades were already used.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'One Man Will Not Stop Our Progress'
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has let the world know that Donald Trump does not represent America in his choice to drop out of the Paris climate agreement.
Despite the president's lack of support for the environment, the rest of America will continue to work towards a brighter and greener future, as Schwarzenegger makes clear in the video above.
Natural Gas Is Not the Answer, New Study Finds
By Paul Brown
Natural gas will have to be phased out along with coal if the world is to be kept safe from dangerous climate change. And that seems likely to have to happen far sooner than most official forecasts, according to a new report.
If countries want to reach their Paris climate agreement goals of limiting the long-term world temperature rise to 1.5°C, then many of the proposals to increase gas production and distribution will be unnecessary. New terminals and pipelines will never be fully used and will become stranded assets.
Dallas Goldtooth: The Fight Against DAPL Is Not Over
Oil will continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline this summer and into the fall, despite the ruling from a federal judge last week that the Trump administration must conduct additional environmental review of the project.
