UH-OH: Ivanka Meets With EPA Director Pruitt Before Climate Change Meetings

By: Aaron Bandler

Ivanka Trump is reportedly meeting with Scott Pruitt, director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as the Trump administration decides on whether to remain in the Paris Agreement on climate change,

Axiosreports that the meeting between Pruitt and Ivanka is scheduled to happen in private at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, when they will be joined by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).  The meeting will precede a meeting later on Tuesday when the White House will convene and determine its stance on the accord.

The administration is currently divided on the accord. On one side, Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are all lobbying for Trump to stay in the accord. On the other side are Pruitt and chief strategist Steve Bannon, pushing for Trump to leave the agreement.

Trump himself has not made a decision on the agreement. He railed against it on the campaign trail and promised to leave the agreement. In fact, The Hill is reporting that “White House officials have started to turn against staying in the pact” because “environmentalists could use the agreement in court to prevent Trump from rolling back climate regulations. However, according to Axios, Trump is open ‘to all perspectives.'”

Under the Paris Agreement, the Obama administration promised to cut America’s carbon emissions by 26- 28% by 2025. The U.S. is already a little over halfway toward that goal but that means that the country would be mired in further regulations until then — if the Trump administration decides to stay in the agreement. The agreement was also never ratified by the Senate, which is part of the reason Pruitt has opposed it.

There are two ways to view Ivanka’s pending meeting with Pruitt. On the one hand, Ivanka could just be trying to understand Pruitt’s point of view. But that seems unlikely given that Ivanka is a believer in man-made climate change and met with Al Gore prior to her father’s inauguration. The more likely reason for this meeting is for Ivanka to try and change Pruitt’s mind.

It has been reported that Ivanka has tried to push her father to move to the Left. She has been successful in various instances in doing so. If Trump ultimately decides to stay in the agreement, Ivanka will be the most likely reason why.

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