In the most ethics-free administration to afflict our country in the last century, President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to set the bar lower for corrupt conflicts of interest.

The EPA’s Inspector General office, which polices EPA official activities, has zeroed in on the latest ethics-challenged official to resign from his leadership role in that agency. Trump had tapped former industry lobbyist Bill Wehrum to head the EPA Office of Air and Radiation. The Inspector General is now examining Wehrum’s contacts with his former law firm and its clients while serving in his official capacity. Those clients are among the nation’s largest greenhouse gas polluters. 

U.S. Senate investigators say Wehrum was also involved in pressing to redefine what constitutes “ambient” air quality to the advantage of former clients. Ambient air quality is a key variable in determining how much toxic pollution a plant can release. As proposed in this case, companies could get away with pumping more of a given toxin into the air by excluding the air inside a polluter’s property lines from what can be tested for air quality.

As we all know, the wind is as well-known for respecting human property lines as a certain administration is for respecting legal and ethical lines.

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