eleven years ago, unity college, a small environmental college tucked into the woods of rural maine, became the first institute of higher education in the country to divest, scrubbing their finances clean from fossil fuels. with the help of climate activist bill mckibben and activist groups, unity college’s story started a movement. today, over 100 schools are divested or in the process of divesting from fossil fuels. from private, wealthy goliaths such as harvard and yale to the entire california public college system, fossil fuels are out the door. 

on this planet forward audio story, i talk to the former president of unity college about how divestment works and the story of how his school became the first to do it. also, he happens to be my dad.

• 7 ways oil and gas drilling is bad for the environment. why do we need renewable energy, anyway? what’s wrong with the current energy sources we use?

• explaining the exponential growth of renewable energy. why is renewable energy growing so fast? what will happen to renewable energy in the future?

• this startup says it has found a way to cut the cost of making solar cells in half. leap photovoltaic is working on a way to build solar panels without the use of silicon wafers, a hard-to-manufacture component that limits production. this could mean vastly expanding domestic solar production.

• 6 cool renewable energy projects that will shape the future. china’s solar highway, the hornsdale power reserve in south australia, and more.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

this cop meeting will be an important one – under the paris agreement, 2020 was designed to be a watershed year, and this will be the first time principals have gathered since it ended. parties should have updated their nationally determined contributions (ndcs) in 2020, setting more aggressive targets that home in on what can be accomplished by 2030. by 2020, wealthy nations should have mobilized to deliver the target of $100 billion per year in climate finance. not all of these goals have been fully accomplished, and there will be much to expect from the wealthiest nations party to the negotiations in glasgow. 

the format of the cop meeting will be much different from usual, with only a fraction of the usual credentialed participants able to attend. it remains to be seen how this, alongside quarantine and vaccination mandates, may create disproportionate barriers for parties from higher-risk countries and ultimately affect the negotiations themselves. most notably, under the paris agreement, a mechanism still needs to be developed to fund responses when vulnerable countries experience loss and damage, and has been the subject of much concern. earning agreement from these least developed countries (ldcs) is critical to the collective success of the international framework, and will be another key issue to look out for in scotland, especially under the strange circumstances.

and, as always, there is much more to look out for beyond just the state-level negotiations. from an industry perspective, ways to accelerate a worldwide clean energy transition will continue to be at the front of minds – from renewable energy, to electric vehicles, to energy efficiency. getting together leaders from the world’s most influential companies, governments, and third parties sets the table for ambitious deal-striking and target-setting, especially around 2030 targets. this is how we 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

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about the author:

beth a. viola, who is attending cop26, is senior policy advisor with holland & knight and co-chairs the firm’s energy & clean technology team. the primary focus of her practice is working with clean energy technology companies to create sound public policy drivers for their businesses. she works with business leaders and non-profits to advance effective climate change strategies that result in economic and environmental benefits.

prior to joining holland & knight, viola served as a senior advisor to the white house council on environmental quality. she served as the primary white house liaison on issues of climate change, natural resources and smart growth to elected officials, industry, environmental, religious and labor leaders as well as the media.

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editor’s note: please check back every day, leading up to the beginning of cop26 on oct. 31, for new pieces from climate leaders in the planet forward network.

washington – before the u.s. international commission reviewed tariffs on solar equipment during a hearing on dec. 5, outside the building opponents of the tariffs chanted, “no more tariffs on the sun, solar jobs for everyone.” 

the rally was organized by solar energy industries association, the national trade association for the u.s. solar energy industry. opponents of the solar tariffs say that they have hurt the u.s. solar industry, the economy, efforts to combat climate change, and cost american jobs.

in january 2018, president donald trump enacted the tariffs on solar equipment. “we’re going to benefit our consumers, and we’re going to create a lot of jobs,” he said.

the solar tariff rate was 30% in 2018, and has dropped to 25% in 2019, and is scheduled to drop to 20% in 2020. 

“i think the tariffs are very unfair. they pretty much cover everything and people don’t realize that small components that we import help out industries and we’re not the only industry that gets affected by that,” solar energy industries association intern tantara person said at the rally. “tariffs are kind of a blunt ax, rather than a surgeon’s tool, and it’s just not very effective. 

a report released by the seia on tuesday stated that 62,000 u.s. jobs were lost, $19 billion in new private sector investment was forgone due to the tariffs, and the impact to emissions was equivalent to adding seven coal power plants. the report also said that the tariffs cost the u.s. economy “$10.5 million per day in unrealized economic activity.” however, the white house criticized the results of the study.

according to henry kelly, a senior fellow at the boston university institute for sustainable energy, the tariffs have hurt the solar industry by making the cost of solar arrays more expensive. kelly said in a telephone interview that since the solar industry is an internationally connected production chain, “disrupting it is invariably going to create problems.” 

kelly said that a strong international market for solar equipment is necessary, as countries throughout the world need access to affordable renewable energy sources.

if the wasteful byproducts our nuclear energy could be given a voice, perhaps this would be their collective cry. while the narrative was fictitious, the underlying facts are real: the united states really did once strafe barrels of nuclear waste with machine gun fire into the atlantic ocean. spent fuel rods really are left underwater for years, if not decades. while some nations practice fuel reprocessing, america is not alone in letting nuclear waste accumulate at reactor sites. and because of irresponsible waste management, real lives have been unjustly lost to slow, cancerous deaths.

but it doesn’t have to be this way. the technology to reduce or even outright eliminate, the existence of nuclear waste already exists. waste can be re-processed through a complex separation method known as purex (plutonium and uranium by extraction), which is already practiced by countries such as japan. through purex, radioactive residuals are separated through pyrometallurgical processing, which is essentially a redox reaction based on electroplating. the uranium can be reused in the fission process, while the transuranic elements (known as residual actinides) are encased in glass. this process, called vitrification, minimizes the containment risks of nuclear waste to safe levels, while also enhancing fuel abundance.

in addition, there are reactors capable of producing a nonhazardous variety of waste.  these are known as tri-structural-isometric, or triso, reactors. triso reactors contain a “pebble bed” of fuel spheres with a 0.5 mm uranium dioxide core. this core is covered in dozens of carbonous layers for absorption. once spent, the pebbles can be securely contained, do not require cooling storage, and are impervious to water leaching and seismic damage. the pebbles are much smaller and safer than a pile of uranium-filled barrels. what could possibly be a more ideal solution, except for perhaps switching to other renewable energy sources altogether?

in order to phase out fossil fuels and mitigate the colossal impacts of climate change already being observed, a transition to renewable energy is a must. this is truer today than ever before due to our rapidly closing time window to mitigate the worst of the climate crisis. but the transition must be done in a way that is responsible and fully minimizes the potential risks. this will be difficult with only ten years remaining to limit the catastrophic potential of the climate crisis. but the technological framework is already in place: all we need to do is pressure lawmakers and industries to use it! funding its implementation should be a priority, since the department of energy accrues >$1 million a year for nuclear waste research and policy. in fact, research has found that funding for nuclear waste disposal has practically zeroed out between 2012 and 2016.

have you listened to our friend’s story? (if not, click here or scroll back to the beginning and hear them out). by producing nuclear energy in an irresponsible and polluting manner, humans are violating our inherent duty to protect and respect all forms of life. we are not to be conquerors and subjugators of this unique creation. no, we are to be supportive members of the natural world that birthed us, raised us, and helped us thrive into the species we are today. that is not to say that we cannot use the gifts nature blesses us with, but it must be done in a way that will value life and our ecosystem services as highly as we value ourselves. for nature is but a delicate machine made from many moving and interdependent parts: remove or foul up one gear, and the rest will spectacularly collapse. 

even though it is easy to think this won’t impact me, realize this: if the earth and the resources we all rely on become poisoned (i.e. the atmosphere from an explosive rocket launch failure), then we are all doomed to the same fate. and it could happen much, much more quickly than the geographically and temporally vast consequences of climate change. as odd as this sounds, it is not about saving the planet in the end. earth has been around for 4.6 billion years and will continue to be, however battered and broken, until it is swallowed by the red giant our star will become in 5 billion years. no, in the end, it is about saving ourselves and our children. so we should strive to be compassionate and merciful to the rest of nature: if not for the sake of benevolence, then for our very existence.

now that you know there are better ways to harness nuclear energy, i encourage you to be loud, speak up, and demand change. you may not believe your voice matters, but without each and every one of you calling your representatives or visiting them in office, the wave of the peoples’ will ceases to exist. collectively, when our persistent voices rise loud above the din, we are the change we seek. but perhaps the most important thing to remember, above all, is to be kind.

from president donald trump controversially tossing some paper towels into a crowd to organizations offering relief, there has been a large effort to give aid to puerto rico. one of the organizations that has helped rebuild puerto rico is the american society of civil engineers, or asce. not only is the asce helping to rebuild puerto rico but they also are updating their infrastructure to last around 50 to 100 years and be able to handle hurricanes with the same wrath as maria according to their standards. 

during the asce-led briefing, the main topic was updating puerto rico’s infrastructure to last and withstand deadly tropical storms in the longworth house office building on capitol hill on sept. 24. the moderators of the briefing called on a joining of forces between the federal government and the asce.

going into the briefing informing people of the asce 7 hazard tool which informs people on how to deal and be prepared for harsh conditions like hurricanes, ice storms, blizzards, and other types of inclement weather was a big point to get across. since the document’s last update in 2017, it now has information on hurricane-prone areas, as well as wind debris.

leading the briefing were multiple high ranking members of the asce: executive director tom smith; héctor colón de la cruz, who is the head of puerto rico’s infrastructure report card; otto lynch, who is the president and ceo of power line systems; and josefa torres-olivo, who is the district iii director of the rural community assistance partnership.

later in the discussion the republican congresswoman of puerto rico jenniffer gonzález-colón to reinforce what was being presented by the asce.

smith described some financial benefits that can be seen when it comes to reinforcing and strengthening communities to be better prepared for disasters.

“according to the national institute of building sciences, every dollar spent on pre-disaster mitigation and preparedness saves 6 dollars in rebuilding costs after a storm,” smith said.

smith also describes what the asce-7 was and just how in depth the document that the asce has presented with their standards is, and just how many people have put the time and dedication necessary to put something like this together.

“asce-7 is an 800-page document,” smith said. “we have hundreds of engineers who work on this document analyzing infrastructure and how it has performed across the world and testing it in labs.”

throughout the briefing, asce pushed their standards and explained how that can benefit areas that deal with numerous types of harsh storms.

lynch discussed how the bahamas updated their infrastructure according to the asce guidelines.

“i’ve been told by more than one source that every pole on that line survived hurricane dorian. that’s a category 5 storm that stayed over the island for 36 hours. follow these!” lynch said, as he shook a copy of the guidelines in his hand.

colón de la cruz would go on to explain puerto rico’s infrastructure strain, the aid it is receiving from congress and a new problem facing puerto rico’s reconstruction.

“congress allocated $42.5 billion for reconstruction purposes,” colón de la cruz said. “as of may 2019, only $15 billion has been delivered to puerto rico. it is important that the american government and puerto rico work together to deliver a more resilient infrastructure.” 

“looking forward in specific infrastructure energy was a headline, the energy blackout but we are also facing a new emergency,” colón de la cruz said. “last year the epa estimated that we only have 5 years left of capacity remaining in our landfills excluding the amount of debris that is going to be a part of the reconstruction efforts. it is also important to mention that only half of the landfills are compliant to epa standards.”

torres-olivo would go on to stress how resources like clean drinking water have been affected by hurricane maria for an area that already struggles to distribute clean water to people living there.

“the reality is that in an island topography and an infrastructure cost investment it is not feasible to perform in for the entire island,” torres-olivo said while describing how difficult it is to distribute water. 

rep. gonzález-colón would not speak until later in the briefing, however she still took advantage of her time. calling on both the federal government and the private sector to work together to help areas like puerto rico.

“one of the biggest challenges i have as a member of congress is that i don’t even have the correct data,” gonzález-colón said. “i rely on the private sector and i rely on ngo’s to gather that information.” 

gonzález-colón also went on to state how important improving puerto rico’s infrastructure will be and she expressed her confidence in the asce guidelines to accomplish that.

“we need to use the american society of civil engineer’s standards,” she said.

asce has the means of doing that.

“this is the only way for people to know what is going on back home,” gonzález-colón said.

sustainability is something that is becoming more of a necessity for colleges and universities to not only answer a call to action from students but to have a more positive effect on the planet. the suny system is doing their part with its clean energy roadmap that all suny schools must follow. 

the new plan, released by the suny chancellor in april, coincides with new york gov. andrew cuomo’s plan to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. with more than 60 campuses and almost a half million students enrolled in the suny system, the universities are taking on a huge burden to make their schools more sustainable. 

the suny system has been known to take climate issues seriously and enact change. according to a suny report starting back in 1990, the system was able to cut its carbon emissions by 770,000 metric tons by 2017, which was a 25% decrease in that span. becoming more environmentally friendly also has been a better decision financially for suny since in the last decade they have saved more than $19 million in energy costs. 

kevin rice, the director of plant and energy management at suny brockport, said there are certain challenges when it comes to making a campus less harmful to the environment — even at smaller schools like brockport, with only around 10,000 enrolled underclassmen.

“i believe any transition to eco-friendly systems is about even for all sized institutes. it’s really dependent upon access to investment money,” rice said via email.

since the sustainability program was first announced, suny brockport already has accomplished some green initiatives on campus.

“the college has replaced around 80% of our boilers to high efficient models with variable frequency drives for circulation,” rice said. “we have had multiple small projects to upgrade almost 90% of our lighting to led. we have radically improved our energy control systems and now have close to 25,000 control points in our system that controls hvacr (heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration) in all buildings.”

but these are just highlights from one institution. all the colleges in the suny system are working together to make sure the goals proposed in the roadmap are being met. albany has become the headquarters for the clean energy roadmap. there other schools can communicate and plan the best course of action of managing their waste and energy, according to rice. 

communication is “mostly led by the suny energy management office in albany,” rice said. “they use workshops, conferences, webinars and newsletters to get info out. lots of ideas and best practices shared.”

outside of albany a school that has been able to lead by example is suny stony brook. according to dean tufts who is the vice president of facilities and services at stony brook, who cited the university’s past when it comes to energy conservation.

“we are proud to help lead not only suny, but all of new york state, when it comes to energy conservation,” tufts said. “suny is the largest consumer of energy of all the new york state agencies, and stony brook university is the largest consumer within suny.  with stony brook representing 18% of suny’s total energy use, and 8% of the total energy used in all new york state-owned buildings, we understand and embrace our responsibility to help lead this effort,” tufts added.

the plan suny proposed aims to create a more energy-efficient campuses by enforcing new building efficiency standards and new practices for energy management, as well as a new clean energy taskforce to oversee the whole system of schools. 

the suny system also wants to become a driving force in energy efficiency, with plans to use its research facilities to help drive innovations in the area.

stony brook already has eliminated more than 16,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions while saving $50 million with energy-saving upgrades, and received $500,000 in energy efficiency rebates, according to a report by long island business news. stony brook is also set to receive $79 million from gov. cuomo. the school plans to use this funding to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 28,000 tons, worth an additional $6 million in energy savings.

tufts stated how the school has saved millions.

“in spite of the campus adding nearly 1.5 million square feet of buildings since 2010, stony brook university’s energy conservation projects along with better operation of our central plants have reduced our energy usage by 16%. by the end of 2020, our energy reduction will equate to more than $12 million in avoided utility costs annually,” tufts said.

as suny becomes a leader in sustainability people can look at this as a sign that more and more institutions like colleges are taking the threat that is climate change very seriously, which would help keep the planet clean for generations to come.

driving an electric vehicle plays a critical role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, but the impact of this reduction gets diminished if the electricity comes from fossil fuels. the sources of electricity used to power your car must be green too and several choices are available to make that happen.

it all comes down to this: how can you ensure that you are maximizing the amount of electricity that comes from renewable sources used to charge your vehicle?

the two highest contributors of u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in 2016 were transportation and electricity production, according to the u.s. environmental protection agency. in illinois, 40% of the state’s electricity is produced by coal and natural gas—only 7% is produced by wind and solar, reports the u.s. department of energy. fortunately, some power companies offer green energy options for your power. and there are steps you can take to maximize the percentage of renewable sources for your electricity. how you do that depends first on where you live.

“if we’re talking just in a single area, or we’re talking about across the u.s., there’s a difference. that’s because the u.s. is broken up into these different interconnections,” said jordan schnell, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of earth and planetary sciences at northwestern university. “basically, depending on where you are, that’s your regional mix of electricity. the chicago area is different from the rest of illinois. if you live in central illinois, you go into a different mix than you do if you live in the chicagoland area. these are called interconnections.”

schnell uses mathematical models to study air quality issues and said that the most obvious way to ensure utilizing renewable electricity for a car is to live in a region that already produces a large amount of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar. illinois’ neighbor iowa is the heaviest producer of wind energy, and wind turbines dot the landscape along i-55 in illinois.

“the pacific northwest has a lot of hydroelectric and california is really ramping up its solar,” schnell said. “[in] west virginia, they get over 90% of their electricity from coal. unless you put a solar farm on your house, you’re not going to be getting clean energy.”

since moving may not be an option for most people, consider bringing the options home. the most significant opportunity is to contact your electricity provider. schnell said that the company should be able to provide a breakdown of the times when they incorporate the most renewable energy. most often this occurs during the day—a time often associated with when people use the most electricity or the peak load. electric companies typically charge more for electricity during this peak load period, but this is the best time to recharge your electric vehicle to maximize renewable sources.

“that’s when the electricity demand is higher,” schnell said. “so, all these generating sources are online, potentially. at nighttime, the demand is quite a bit lower, so that is picked up by the base load electricity supply which is predominately fossil fuels in most locations. so, the timing is the big thing. generally, it’s better to not charge during the evening. it’s better to charge during the day because there’s cleaner sources during the day.”

in illinois, your electricity provider is most likely commonwealth edison company (comed), which is a subsidiary of exelon corporation. comed provides electricity to 70% of illinois residents, including 4 million in the northern part of the state. in the 12 months ending in september 2018, 60% of the electricity provided to comed’s customers came from coal and natural gas, according to their environmental disclosure report—4% came from wind, hydro, and solar. nuclear power plants produce the rest. comed did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the sources of electricity provided to illinois residents.

direct energy, a subsidiary of u.k.-based centrica, provides power to roughly 67,000 illinois residents. amanda parrish, public relations manager, did not say exactly how much of the company’s electricity mix is made from renewable sources but reiterated that you are more likely to have access to these sources during the day.

“solar is clearly only producing during the day,” she said via email. “wind can blow at all hours, but in certain places we get the most at night. biomass can be used anytime.” although biomass is identified as a renewable source of energy, it does release some carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it is burned to produce fuel.

the illinois power agency act, created in 2007, requires all large investor-owned electric utilities to produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. for the energy year 2019—which ends in may—these companies are required to source 14.5% of their electricity from renewables, and the percentage required increases incrementally up to 2025.

the best method to ensure that your electric vehicle is charged by renewable energy is to take production out of the hands of energy companies and produce the energy yourself.

“some people can get solar power installed at their home,” said marc geller, vice president and co-founder of plug in america, via email. the advocacy group provides consumer information such as installing photovoltaics on homes to power vehicles. “in that case their car could be effectively 100% solar powered.”

producing solar energy at home guarantees that your electricity is made by renewable sources and storing it in a home battery system means you can charge your vehicle via renewable energy at any time. the installation costs and amount of energy produced can vary based on location and installation company, but installing solar panels at home puts the control in the hands of the consumer.

“you could make your own electricity and store it in this battery,” schnell said. “even though you don’t have your car at home during the day where the sun is actually generating the electricity, you can sell it back to the grid or you can store it in your battery. then you can charge it at night from all the solar you generated throughout the day. it depends on where you live and how much you drive—northern illinois is not great for solar—but it can do a significant amount.”

illinois shines offers renewable energy credits (rec) to owners of approved solar panels, and these credits can be sold to utilities to help offset the cost of solar panel installation. comed offers several rebates and tax incentives to install solar panels at home. additionally, solar cooperatives are growing in popularity, allowing a group of individuals to share the cost of solar panel installation and to distribute solar energy among its members, effectively bypassing electricity companies.

regardless of how you power your electrical car, it offers a positive benefit. the electricity is getting more renewable overall and represents the clean future of the transportation system. according to the union of concerned scientists’ ev emissions tool, electric vehicles in randomly selected illinois zip codes release approximately 46% less of carbon dioxide equivalent (co2e) compared to gasoline vehicles.

“electricity in most of the u.s. is already cleaner than gasoline,” geller said. “and it’s getting more renewable every year everywhere.”

washington—blockchain technology could make the u.s. more energy efficient in the long run, but right now the cryptocurrency miners using blockchain actually are consuming large amounts electricity to power their computers and other devices, experts told a senate committee on tuesday.

in the central and eastern area of washington state, the inexpensive hydropower has attracted many cryptocurrency miners, which has driven up electricity fees in the area, said washington sen. maria cantwell, the top democrat on the energy and natural resources committee. 

the worldwide energy usage for bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency, is estimated to be around 2 billion to 3 billion watts of power, which is the equivalent amount of energy used by 2 million homes, said tomas golden, program manager at the electric power research institute. 

cryptocurrency is an application that uses blockchain technology, which is open to anyone but requires volunteers to consistently solve complex digital puzzles to support new blocks added to the chain. the process is called “mining,” and the volunteers are called “miners.” the volunteers are rewarded with small amounts of cryptocurrency.

miners require an increasing amount of computing power and energy to compete with each other, said paul skare, chief cybersecurity manager at pacific northwest national laboratory.

“the energy used in cryptocurrency mining has been compared to the total energy usage of states, and even countries,” skare said.

recognizing that the mining process is unlikely to be abandoned, princeton university associate professor arvind narayanan said that energy experts and computer scientists should work together to create efficient energy solutions. 

claire henly, managing director at the energy web foundation, said the government should develop an incentive policy to discourage miners to mine during peak times to relieve the supply-demand tension. 

but blockchain technology also has the potential to help the clean energy industry. cantwell said peer-to-peer energy transactions in blockchain allow customers to purchase and sell electricity, driving down the cost by allowing people to use their distributed energy. 

henly said energy web foundation had assembled a group of 80 energy companies to develop and deploy an open-source blockchain, which is less energy demanding.

a recent report by the energy future initiative estimates global investment in digital power sector infrastructure has increased 20 percent since 2014, reaching $47 billion, according to sen. lisa murkowski, r-alaska, the chairwoman of the senate energy committee.

washington — a house appropriations subcommittee grilled u.s. environmental protection agency administrator scott pruitt thursday afternoon on his deregulation agenda and spending habits.

even though pruitt is under fire amid a number of ethics scandals — including a $43,000 soundproof booth for his office, his below-market capitol hill condo rental from an energy lobbyist’s wife, and his reported retaliations against agency staff — democratic lawmakers mostly voiced concerns about what they see as the administrator’s gutting of environmental protections policies.

pruitt has announced a rollback to obama-era fuel economy standards and a proposal to repeal the clean power plan, which limits power plants’ carbon emissions. democratic lawmakers argued that would threaten public health.

“rolling back regulations that limit emissions will mean more cases of asthma in children,” said rep. betty mccollum, d-minn., the subcommittee ranking member. “that’s a fact. your approach is bad for the environment, bad for public health and bad for business.”

rep. chellie pingree, d-maine, also said her constituents experience high rates of asthma due to air pollution.

“we’re at the end of the tailpipe when it comes to the clean power plan,” pingree said. “we have ‘red alert’ days. and i have no idea why would you want to rollback limits on fuel emissions.”

but pruitt stood firm in the face of the criticism, telling lawmakers his vow to cut fuel economy standards came after a review of the previous administration’s standards, which he said were based on assumptions of market conditions that haven’t come true.

“what we don’t want to see happen is we set the standards so high that manufacturers manufacture cars that people don’t purchase,” pruitt said. “what happens is, people will stay in older vehicles, which actually increases emissions.”

the interior, environment, and related agencies subcommittee is made up of seven republicans and four democrats and is chaired by rep. ken calvert, a republican from california. the two-hour hearing also focused on the epa budget, which president trump wants to cut by 30%.

“we will not support president trump’s budget or your efforts to cripple the epa with draconian cuts,” rep. mccollum said.

pruitt defended the trump administration budget, saying the agency is “stripping burdensome costs” and making “transformational change.”

republicans used their time to stand up for pruitt and his actions as epa administrator. rep. evan jenkins, r-w.va., says his state’s coal economy has greatly improved since pruitt took over last year.

“your agency is restoring hope to the people of west virginia,” jenkins said. “what a difference, candidly, an election makes. i appreciate the good work of this administration getting us back in business.”

pruitt’s job security in trump’s fluid administration has been in question recently, amid his mounting ethics scandals. but pruitt has relentlessly implemented trump’s campaign deregulation promises, and the president continues to defend pruitt at least publicly. but democrats at the hearing questioned whether he’s fit for the job.

toward the end of the hearing, mccollum, the highest-ranking democrat on the panel, looked straight at pruitt and, speaking slowly, told the embattled administrator: “mr. pruitt, i think it’s time for you to resign.”