Heat rises on Pruitt, Antarctica ice sheet

It’s hard to know which is accelerating faster, the melting of Antarctic ice or the Trump administration’s disdain for doing a single thing to save the planet. Last week, a team of 80 scientists reported that Antarctica’s ice sheet is melting three times faster than it was 10 years ago. Although not all of its frozen sheets are melting that quickly, the continent has enough ice to eventually, if melted, raise sea levels about 60 metres.

Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt – who should be raising the alarm about the melting ice – is adding a new scandal to the many federal inquiries he already faces. It has been reported that he directed a top government aide to get in touch with GOP donors in a quest to get his wife a job.

Four House Republicans have openly called for Pruitt to step down. A few Senate Republicans have grown weary of Pruitt but have stopped short of demanding his removal. Pruitt’s fate still lies with President Trump, and despite the scandals, he’s still standing by Pruitt. The administrator has helped deliver some of Trump’s biggest policy wins to date and is continuing to roll back environmental regulations.

Even as Pruitt’s scandal du jour makes headlines, it’s important to remember that he’s making major policy changes at the EPA that could impact the health of millions of Americans.