Let’s introduce the characters.
Doug Deason, a Dallasite, is the loinfruit of Darwin Deason, the founder of ACS and a man who, last time I talked to him, enjoyed drinking Kahlua and Diet Coke. Forbes says the elder Deason is worth $1.3 billion. Doug and Darwin donated more than $900,000 in 2016 to help elect Trump and other Republican candidates. Their money was clearly well-spent.
Scott Pruitt is the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Space prevents a full accounting here of all the scandals he’s generated since assuming office. Just know that he created the “Ritz-Carlton moisturizing lotion scandal.” Oh, also, he hates the environment and the protection thereof.
Kathleen Hartnett White was nominated to run the Council on Environmental Quality, but she didn’t get the job because she doesn’t know anything about science. She is buds with Doug Deason.
Michael Honeycutt now leads the EPA’s Science Advisory Board, an important body that guides the agency in how to write regulations. He used to work at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). He also hates the environment and the protection thereof. Though I hasten to point out that he hasn’t generated a single scandal that compares to the Ritz-Carlton moisturizing lotion scandal.
Got ’em all? OK, so Doug had Kathleen draft a list of candidates for Scott’s Science Advisory Board, the top pick for which was Michael. And that leads me to conclude that Doug Deason is trying to protect his home state by sending environment-hating scientists from Texas to the D.C. swamp. He is to be commended.
Guh. You can’t make this stuff up. Politico just published some more details, if you want to be depressed.
