"In Trump’s potential cabinet picks, echoes of a Reagan-era wave of environmental deregulation."

"In a move that could leave U.S. environmental protections in jeopardy, President-elect Donald Trump has named several entrenched fossil fuel lobbyists to lead the transition teams for both the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. Those choices, experts say, suggest that Trump plans to make good on some of his campaign promises, which have included loosening environmental regulations in favor of oil, gas, and coal development — and at times, calling for the wholesale elimination of the E.P.A. — the primary agency through which President Obama, among other things, articulated his climate change agenda.

Among the new powerbrokers is Myron Ebell, an outspoken skeptic of fundamental climate science with the Washington D.C.-based think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute. Ebell, who has been assigned to lead Trump’s E.P.A. efforts, has attacked most every energy policy under President Barack Obama, and he is a provocative choice says Andrew Hoffman, a professor at the University of Michigan who studies the implications of environmental issues for business.

Of course, provocative moves, Hoffman adds, aren’t all that surprising in Republican politics."

Aleszu Bajak reports for Undark November 10, 2016. [2]