It’s been a month since Election Day, and with just weeks (!) until President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, he’s been quickly filling his cabinet with like-minded Washington insiders, despite his promise to “drain the swamp.” Many of his picks for cabinet and his transition team, those tasked with advising Trump on his cabinet picks, are undeniably tied to the Big Oil industry, have enormous conflicts of interest, and deny climate science. Take, for example, Trump’s latest pick, Scott Pruitt, selected as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator. The attorney general from Oklahoma is currently suing the very agency he’s been tasked with running. That’s not really a surprise: the head of the EPA transition team, Myron Ebell, isn’t just a climate denier, but wants to gut the essential agency. It’s not just climate denial that runs rampant in Trump’s cabinet, these largely unqualified Washington insiders are using their ties with Trump to promote special interests like Big Oil and Big Coal.
We’re still waiting on some of the nominations tasked with protecting our land, air, water and climate like the heads of the Department of Energy and the Department of Interior, but the nominees we’ve already seen don’t bode well for our public lands, air, water and climate. Elaine Chao, Trump’s pick to run the Department of Transportation, Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for Attorney General, and Wilbur Ross, Trump’s pick to run the Department of Commerce all reject climate science and support drilling on public lands and building dirty and dangerous pipelines instead of protecting our communities. With new nominations coming out left and right, we thought we’d catch you up to speed on who is currently in Trump’s Cabinet of Fossil Fools.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General and climate denier.
Scott Pruitt, whose own bio describes him as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda” cannot be trusted to head the EPA, an agency charged with protecting all Americans from threats to their water, air, and health. We strongly urge Senators, who are elected to represent and protect the American people, to stand up for families across the nation and oppose this nomination.
Environmental Protection Agency Transition Team Leader: Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and known climate denier.
Myron Ebell is a professional merchant of doubt who is committed to undermining the consensus behind climate change. It's no wonder why: he has spent his career doing the bidding of the big polluters who pay him to deny climate change and attack clean air protections. Anyone who denies climate science does not have the American people's best interests at heart and is not fit to oversee the leadership of the EPA, an agency that is charged with keeping all Americans healthy and safe.
Attorney General: Jeff Sessions, Republican Senator from Alabama, opponent of environmental protection, civil rights and civil liberties.
Senator Jeff Sessions is a proven opponent of environmental protection, civil rights, and civil liberties. His atrocious voting record on environmental issues shows that he absolutely cannot be entrusted to defend and enforce the laws that protect our air, our water, and our communities. He’s attacked hallowed champions of equality and dignity like the ACLU and the NAACP and was denied a federal judgeship as a result of his racist history. That should be more than enough of an indication that any Senator who believes in justice shouldn’t put Jeff Sessions in charge of ensuring it.
Secretary of Transportation: Elaine Chao, former Labor Secretary under President George W. Bush, former deputy secretary of transportation under President George H.W. Bush, and friend to the fossil fuel industry.
Transportation is now the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions, so we need a leader who will protect Americans from toxic pollution. Now more than ever, our nation should be investing in clean, money-saving, and jobs-creating transportation technology like electric vehicles and zero emission buses, not cozying up to the fossil fuel industry to attack fuel efficiency standards. Chao’s appointment is the latest in a string of reckless, backward appointments by President-elect Donald Trump, and we call on any Senator who wants to stand up for her or his constituents to oppose this appointment.
Secretary of Commerce: Wilbur Ross, millionaire fossil fuel insider and former owner of deadly coal mine.
Wilbur Ross’ long record of disregard for the health, safety, and well-being of workers at his companies should instantly disqualify him from being in the building that houses the Commerce Department, let alone from leading it. Ross laid off hundreds of workers, shipped American jobs overseas, and owned a coal mine so dangerous that it killed a dozen people. Is that really the kind of example Donald Trump wants out of his Secretary of Commerce?
Health and Human Services Secretary: Tom Price, republican Congressman from Georgia, climate denier and women’s health opponent.
By appointing Tom Price, Donald Trump is accelerating down a dangerous path that will jeopardize the health and safety of American families. We all deserve the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live safe and healthy lives. Our country’s Secretary of Health and Human Services should be someone who works toward the goal of protecting the health of all Americans. Sadly, Rep. Price has shown that he only cares about the health of some Americans, by frequently attacking policies that protect women’s health, vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and loudly denying the threats of climate change.
When it comes to the remaining Cabinet positions, including Secretary of Energy, Secretary of the Interior, and Secretary of State, we urge Donald Trump to quickly realize the errors of his ways and nominates people who are truly fit for the job, those who accept climate science, and to protect our public lands, air, water and climate.