EPA Sends Email With Wrongly-Attributed Quote Bashing Trump Climate Bill

CORRECTS TO REPLACE 3RD SENTENCE WITH INFO RELATED TO POWER PLANT SHOWN - FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2011 file photo shows the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station, from Lake Powell, in Page, Ariz. The ... CORRECTS TO REPLACE 3RD SENTENCE WITH INFO RELATED TO POWER PLANT SHOWN - FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2011 file photo shows the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station, from Lake Powell, in Page, Ariz. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is slated to release rules aimed at reducing mercury pollution from large coal-fired power plants. The operator of Navajo Generating Station said the 2,250-megawatt plant will run as long as the owners are convinced there isn't a better alternative. But spokesman Scott Harelson said the plant is facing some challenges, the most pressing of which are EPA regulations, and negotiating coal supply agreements and a site lease — "any of which could put the plant at risk of closure." (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Fle) MORE LESS
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The Environmental Protection Agency attempted to publish a highlight reel of praise for President Donald Trump’s rollback of regulations related to climate change, but it inadvertently included a wrongly-attributed bit of criticism.

An email sent out by the EPA, obtained by Politico, featured a quote attributed to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), which called the order “irresponsible” and “irrational.”

“With this Executive Order, President Trump has chosen to recklessly bury his head in the sand. Walking away from the Clean Power Plan and other climate initiatives, including critical resiliency projects is not just irresponsible — it’s irrational,” the quote read. “Today’s executive order calls into question America’s credibility and our commitment to tackling the greatest environmental challenge of our lifetime. With the world watching, President Trump and Administrator Pruitt have chosen to shirk our responsibility, disregard clear science and undo the significant progress our country has made to ensure we leave a better, more sustainable planet for generations to come.”

The only problem? Capito, a Republican from coal country, didn’t say that. That quote is actually from Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), according to Politico. When alerted to the error, an EPA spokesman told Poltico that the email was quickly replaced with another one, which can be read on its site now.

“We apologize for the error and are making sure that our process is improved as we build our team,” the spokesman said in a statement to Poltico.

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