Pruitt has "walked away 100 percent" from EPA job, says Michael Bloomberg
In an interview to air Sunday on "Face the Nation," former New York City Mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg excoriated Scott Pruitt's job performance as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
"His policies are not good for the world. To debunk science and walk away from it is just ridiculous. Even if you don't believe it. If there's a possibility that it's right you have to take prophylactic actions to prevent a disaster," Bloomberg told "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan.
Bloomberg is among those who have heavily criticized the EPA administrator's work rolling back Obama-era environmental regulations. Pruitt has also faced a storm of criticism for pricey travel and a condo rental tied to a fossil fuels lobbyist.
"I don't know about all of the things that are alleged in terms of spending money on things that he really shouldn't do. If that's really true, he should not do that and we should stop that," Bloomberg said of Pruitt's controversies.
With the support of President Trump, Pruitt's agency has gutted the core of climate change regulations, arguing the move would restore lost coal jobs and reduce electricity rates.
"His job is to protect the environment and he has walked away 100 percent from that saying the environment doesn't need protection, I'm going to protect jobs," Bloomberg said, "that's not his job."
Last year, Bloomberg joined leading members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to oppose the President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accords. The international agreement had committed the United States to carbon emissions reductions, as well as a fund assisting vulnerable countries cope with the effects of climate change.
The president had opposed the deal as a candidate, which he criticized as poorly negotiated and "job-destroying." On the campaign trail he had also questioned the justification for efforts to combat climate change, which he has said he believes is a hoax.
A recent CBS News poll found that most Americans believe that global warming, caused mainly by human activity, exists.
However, Americans break along party lines: a plurality of Republicans say global warming is due more to natural causes, and more than a quarter do not believe global warming exists at all.
In the interview, Bloomberg did not seem to have much patience for climate change skeptics.
"You have a right to your own opinion. You don't have a right to your own facts and the science says this is happening," said Bloomberg.
Margaret Brennan's interview of Michael Bloomberg will air Sunday on "Face the Nation." Click here to check your local listings.
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