text:
Presidential Transition
Promises vs Actions
Russian Meddling in Election
Voter Suppression
Americans in Poverty
Black Americans
Blue-Collar Workers
Jewish Americans
Assaults on Civil Liberties
Assaults on Facts
Assaults on Government
Attempts to Discredit Media
Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Mexico Wall
Muslim Immigration Ban
Muslim Registry
Early Politics
False Statements
Fact-Checking Resources
Federal Departments
Council of Economic Advisers
Civil Rights Division
Office of the United States Trade Representative
Trump Relationship with Russia
Legal Activity
Presidential Activity
Administration Errors
Carrier Corporation Jobs Deal
Unprecedented Actions
Unpresidential Behavior
Trump Business
Donald J. Trump Foundation
The Trump Organization
Trump Taxes
Dan Coats
Don McGahn
Elaine Chao
H.R. McMaster
James Mattis
Ken Blackwell
Linda McMahon
Rejected or Withdrawn Appointments
Andrew Puzder
Monica Crowley
Vincent Viola
Resignations and Dismissals
Robert Lighthizer
Ryan Zinke
Scott Pruitt
Sonny Perdue
Steven Mnuchin
Wilbur Ross
Barron Trump
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Home / Federal Departments
See also EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
2013.03.02 Trump is proposing to slash a quarter of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's budget, targeting climate-change programs and those designed to prevent air and water pollution like lead contamination. mobile.reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Climate Change, Water, Environment)
2013.10.03 Since 2011 Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has been at odds with the EPA, which he's sued, accused of committing abuses, and describes as "overstepping its authority." stateimpact.npr.org (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
2014.06.12 Court losses won't deter Pruitt in his fight with EPA stateimpact.npr.org (See also Scott Pruitt)
2016.01.23 Trump administration tells EPA to freeze all grants and contracts (annual average $4 billion per year), a move could affect everything from state-led climate research to localized efforts to improve air and water quality to environmental justice projects aimed at helping poor communities. washingtonpost.com (See also Environment)
2016.12.07 Trump picks Pruitt to lead EPA. npr.org (See also Scott Pruitt)
NPR delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture. Subscribe to podcasts and RSS feeds.
2016.12.08 Trump names Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general suing EPA on climate change, to head the EPA washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment, Climate Change)
2017.01.06 Pruitt resigns from rule of law defense fund. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency resigned as chairman of the Rule of Law Defense Fund in November, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a financial ...
2017.01.18 Trump bans EPA employees from updating public via press or social media. bostonglobe.com (See also Censorship)
2017.01.18 Trump's EPA nominee Scott Pruitt won't commit to recusing himself from eight ongoing lawsuits he's filed against the agency. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.01.24 As part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch the White House orders a contract freeze and media blackout at the EPA. fortune.com (See also Assaults on Facts)
2017.01.24 Efforts to mute federal employees are occurring to varying degrees in the EPA, and departments of the Interior, Transportation, Agriculture and Health and Human services. politico.com (See also First 100 Days, Assaults on Facts, First Amendment, Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior)
2017.01.24 The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch. chicagotribune.com (See also Censorship)
2017.01.24 Trump administration officials instructed employees at multiple agencies to cease communicating with the public through news releases, official social media accounts and correspondence, raising concerns that federal employees will be able to convey only information that supports the new president's agenda. washingtonpost.com (See also Censorship)
2017.01.24. The Trump administration has frozen all EPA grants and contracts. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
EPA staff was also told not to discuss the freeze with anyone outside the agency
2017.01.25 A freeze on external communications from the EPA, Depts. of the Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, is ordered. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Assaults on Facts, Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior)
2017.01.25 Associated Press: Trump mandating EPA scientific studies, data undergo review by political staff before public release. twitter.com (See also Censorship, Assaults on Facts)
2017.01.25 Trump administration instructs the EPA to remove the climate change page from its website mobile.reuters.com (See also First 100 Days, Climate Change)
2017.01.25 Trump officials appear to have walked back on plans to delete EPA climate web pages. sciencemag.org (See also Climate Change, Reversals, Environment)
2017.01.31 Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says she is "concerned" about the number of lawsuits that Trump's nominee, Scott Pruitt, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has filed against that agency. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.01.31 Transition officials continue to debated internally about whether the Trump administration should seek a major reversal of U.S. EPA's core authority to regulate greenhouse gases. eenews.net (See also First 100 Days, Environment, Climate Change, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.01 Democrats boycott controversial EPA nominee Scott Pruitt's committee confirmation vote. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.02 Democrats boycotted Pruitt's confirmation vote for a second day, and their Republican counterparts suspend committee rules to approve Scott Pruitt, Trump's EPA nominee. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruit)
2017.02.08 Trump's Pick for the EPA, Scott Pruit, is stonewalling on releasing records linking him to the fossil fuel industry so the ACLU is suing for his compliance. aclu.org (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.10 Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) introduces the Wasteful EPA Programs Elimination Act on Thursday. The bill, if passed, would gut the EPA. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days)
2017.02.10 Trump transition team orders EPA to reduce staff attending Alaska environmental conference by 50%. npr.org (See also First 100 Days, Climate Change, Environment)
2017.02.15 Republican Senator Susan Collins says after careful consideration she will oppose the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA mainepublic.org (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.16 EPA posts a mirror of its website as it appeared on January 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office, that will serve as a reference and archive. vice.com (See also First 100 Days)
2017.02.16 Employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are calling their senators to try to defeat Scott Pruitt's confirmation to run the agency. nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.16 Judge rules Trump EPA nominee Scott Pruitt must turn over communications he's had with fossil fuel companies—information he's long stalled in providing. thehill.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.17 Scott Pruitt confirmed as EPA head, 52-46, despite calls from Democrats to delay the vote until after emails Pruitt was ordered to release have been reviewed. theguardian.com (See also Scott Pruitt, First 100 Days)
2017.02.22 Thousands of pages of emails made available today show that the new EPA chief, Scott Pruitt, coordinated with major oil and gas producers and political groups tied to the Koch brothers to roll back environmental regulations during his tenure as Oklahoma attorney general. mobile.nytimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Scott Pruitt, Energy)
2017.02.23 Pruitt emails demonstrate that as Oklahoma attorney general he worked hard to challenge, undermine, and defeat the EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment. mobile.nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
2017.02.24 The Oklahoma Attorney General's office confirms that Scott Pruitt used a private email account for state business when he was Oklahoma Attorney General, which is in direct conflict with Pruitt's written and oral testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works committee during his confirmation process as E.P.A. administrator. okcfox.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.02.24 World's biggest automakers ask E.P.A. Administrator Scott Pruitt to relax late-Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.03.02 Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, is being pressed to explain omissions in congressional testimony at his confirmation hearing regarding his use of a personal email account for official business as Oklahoma state attorney general. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts)
2017.03.03 A draft EPA budget document includes the virtual elimination of 38 EPA programs, a 25 percent reduction in the annual EPA budget, and a resulting reduction in workforce of 19 percent. abcnews.go.com (See also Budget)
2017.03.07 The EPA's science office removes the word 'science' from its mission statement, provoking fears that under Scott Pruitt the EPA will prioritize business interests over public health and the environment. businessinsider.com (See also First 100 Days, Environment, Scott Pruitt)
2017.03.09 EPA chief Scott Pruitt claims carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming, contradicting the EPA's own scientifically backed conclusions. cnbc.com (See also First 100 Days, Climate Change, Environment, Scott Pruitt)
2017.03.15 Trump directs the Environmental Protection Agency to shelve aggressive vehicle fuel economy targets that have been a foundation for battles against climate change and harmful pollution in California and across the country. latimes.com (See also First 100 Days, Climate Change)
2017.04.05 The EPA moves to dismantle programs that protect kids from lead paint. washingtonpost.com (See also First 100 Days)
2017.05.24 Scientists publish scientific paper refuting EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's assertion that climate change has been "leveling off." washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment, Climate Change, Assaults on Facts)
2017.06.01 Representatives of American cities, states and companies are preparing to submit a plan to the United Nations pledging to meet the United States' greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris climate accord, despite President Trump's decision to withdraw from the agreement. nytimes.com (See also Climate Change, Environment)
2017.06.15 Republicans and Democrats came together on Thursday to jointly attack the Trump administration's proposal to slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by $2.4 billion, or 31%, next year. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
Rep. Ken Calvert, a Republican from California, raised strong concerns about Trump's budget proposal in his opening remarks to a two-hour EPA budget hearing, held by an appropriations subcommittee focused on the environment and chaired by Calvert.
2017.06.19 Like EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Energy Secretary Rick Perry says he does not believe CO2 emissions from human activity are the primary driver of climate change. cnbc.com (See also Rick Perry, Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Department of Energy)
This is, of course, at odds with at odds with the EPA, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
2017.06.20 The Environmental Protection Agency plans on shedding more than 1,200 employees by early September through buyouts and early retirements, as part of a broader push by the Trump administration to practically eliminate the agency "in almost every form." washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Environment)
2017.06.28 The Trump administration's top environmental official met privately with the chief executive of Dow Chemical shortly before removing a ban on a widely used pesticide, despite health studies showing it can harm children's brains. apnews.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.06.30 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is leading a formal initiative to challenge mainstream climate science. eenews.net (See also Environment, Climate Change, Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry)
2017.07.03 A federal appeals court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot suspend an Obama-era rule to restrict methane emissions from new oil and gas wells. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
2017.07.11 Trump is aggressively scaling back government regulations out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts. propublica.org (See also Conflicts of Interest, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Education, Corruption)
2017.07.18 Trump on Monday the controversial toxicologist Michael Dourson, who self-publishes science-inspired Bible books, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency's work on chemical safety and pollution prevention. buzzfeed.com (See also Trump Cabinet, Assaults on Government, Assaults on Facts)
Dourson "writes books matching science and Biblical text," according to his Twitter profile on Tuesday afternoon.
2017.08.07 A report awaiting approval by the Trump administration concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now, which directly contradicts claims by Trump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain. nytimes.com (See also Climate Change, Assaults on Facts, Scott Pruitt)
The report directly contradicts Trump administration claims about global warming and concludes that temperatures have risen rapidly since 1980.
2017.08.07 The USDA won't let its staff use the phrase "climate change" in any of its work. mic.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Environment)
2017.08.11 Scott Pruitt has made it clear that he intends to dismantle the E.P.A.'s environmental mission, but his critics say he is deploying extraordinary secrecy as he does so. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
He has made it clear that he intends to dismantle the E.P.A.'s environmental mission. His critics say he is deploying extraordinary secrecy as he does so.
2017.08.14 The Trump administration is reassessing strict Obama-era standards for how major coal-fired, natural gas, and nuclear power plants treat and dispose of wastewater laced with toxic pollutants. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
2017.09.04 The Environmental Protection Agency has taken the unusual step of putting a political operative in charge of vetting the hundreds of millions of dollars in grants the EPA distributes annually, assigning final funding decisions to a former Trump campaign aide with little environmental policy experience. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Government, Environment, Scott Pruitt, Jeff Sessions)
2017.09.06 Buyouts offered by the Trump administration to more than 1,200 Environmental Protection Agency employees have prompted 400 people to leave their posts. the-scientist.com (See also Climate Change, Assaults on Government, Scott Pruitt)
2017.09.14 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will reconsider a rule regulating coal ash waste from power plants in a win for utility industry groups that petitioned for changes. reuters.com (See also Environment, Scott Pruitt)
Environmental groups warned that if EPA rolls back the safeguards, it would put the public at risk because coal ash pits are located near waterways and groundwater.
2017.09.26 The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25,000 to construct a secure, soundproof communications booth in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
2017.09.27 Much like Tom Price, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, costing taxpayers more than $58,000 to fly him to various parts of the country. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Tom Price, Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.03 Since taking office in February, Scott Pruitt, head of the E.P.A., has held back-to-back meetings, briefing sessions and speaking engagements almost daily with top corporate executives and lobbyists from all the major economic sectors that he regulates — and almost no meetings with environmental groups or consumer or public health advocates. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Government)
2017.10.05 Donald Trump nominated Andrew R. Wheeler, a coal lobbyist with links to outspoken deniers of established science on climate change, to help lead the Environmental Protection Agency, who is reviled by environmental activists but hailed by industry as having the know-how to dismantle Obama-era fossil fuel regulations. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Climate Change, Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.05 The Environmental Protection Agency will propose repealing the Clean Power Plan - the Obama administration's centerpiece regulation to fight climate change, designed to lower carbon emissions from existing US power plants by 2030 to 32% below 2005 levels. reuters.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
2017.10.05 The Trump administration — with help from Republicans in Congress — has sought to reverse nearly 50 environmental rules, including major Obama-era regulations aimed at fighting climate change. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Climate Change, Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.09 Tax incentives for the wind industry should be eliminated, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt said, to help coal survive. bloomberg.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Environment)
2017.10.09 The EPA announced plans to repeal the Clean Power Plan, aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, while climate and health experts say this will increase health costs from air pollution and do little to limit emissions. buzzfeed.com (See also Environment, Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
2017.10.16 The EPA set new guidelines that ease off on established safety levels when it comes to radiation, setting them ten times the drinking water standard for radiation recommended under the previous administration. bloomberg.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
2017.10.20 The Environmental Protection Agency has removed dozens of online resources dedicated to helping local governments address climate change, as a new analysis found that an E.P.A. website has been scrubbed of scores of links to materials to help local officials prepare for a world of rising temperatures and more severe storms. nytimes.com (See also Censorship, Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.21 A scientist who worked for the chemical industry now shapes policy on hazardous chemicals within the E.P.A., causing fear that public health is at risk. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.22 The Environmental Protection Agency has canceled the speaking appearance of three agency scientists who were scheduled to discuss climate change at a conference in Rhode Island. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Censorship)
2017.10.23 The Environmental Protection Agency is beefing up security measures surrounding Administrator Scott Pruitt to an unprecedented level, as members of Congress are asking if the costs are a "potential waste or abuse of taxpayer dollars," by by hiring a dozen more agents for ateam that works in shifts to provide him around-the-clock protection, something unheard of for Pruitt's predecessors. cnn.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2017.10.31 Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stripped a half-dozen scientists and academics of advisory positions Tuesday and issued new rules barring anyone who receives E.P.A. grant money from serving on panels that counsel the agency on scientific decisions, effectively shutting out many academic scientists who rely on federal funding, replacing them with researchers from industry. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Censorship)
2017.10.31 Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, stripped a half-dozen scientists and academics of advisory positions Tuesday and issued new rules barring anyone who receives E.P.A. grant money from serving on panels that counsel the agency on scientific decisions. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Facts, Scott Pruitt)
2017.11.03 Directly contradicting much of the Trump administration's position on climate change, 13 federal agencies unveiled an exhaustive scientific report that says humans are the dominant cause of the global temperature rise that has created the warmest period in the history of civilization. nytimes.com (See also Climate Change, Environment, Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry, Assaults on Facts)
2017.11.07 Syria announced that it would sign the Paris agreement on climate change which, coming on the heels of Nicaragua signing the accord last month, will leave the United States as the only country that has rejected the global pact. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Climate Change, Syria)
2017.11.08 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said a newly released government report that lays most of the blame for the rise of global temperatures to human activity won't deter him from continuing to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, a major rule aimed at combating climate change. usatoday.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment, Climate Change)
2017.12.01 The EPA appears close to unveiling its program to question mainstream research on global warming and climate science, referred to as a "red team" exercise. eenews.net (See also Climate Change, Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts)
2017.12.10 An analysis of enforcement data by The New York Times shows that the administration has adopted a more lenient approach toward polluters. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
2017.12.12 The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general will investigate how it decided to spend more than $25,000 installing a secure, soundproof communications booth in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
2017.12.13 Donald Trump's nominee to oversee the Environmental Protection Agency's chemical safety division withdrew his name from consideration for the post in the face of mounting opposition, due to his studies which often bolstered safety claims by manufacturers of pesticides, flame retardants and other products listed as possible public health hazards. nytimes.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, False Statements, Rejected or Withdrawn Appointments, Scott Pruitt)
2017.12.15 One of the top executives of a consulting firm that the Environmental Protection Agency has recently hired to help it with media affairs has spent the past year investigating agency employees who have been critical of the Trump administration. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Scott Pruitt)
2017.12.15 Using taxpayer dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency inked a no-bid $120,000 cutting-edge Republican PR firm that specializes in digging up opposition research to help Administrator Scott Pruitt's office track and shape press coverage of the agency. motherjones.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Civil Liberties, Attempts to Discredit Media)
2017.12.17 Across the country, at different offices of the EPA, employees that raised concerns were told to submit copies of any emails written by them that mentioned either Scott Pruitt or Donald Trump, or any communications with Democrats in Congress that might have been critical of the agency. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Fascism, Assaults on Civil Liberties)
2017.12.22 More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures including more than 200 scientists, an additional 96 environmental protection specialists, most of whom will not be replaced. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts, Assaults on Government)
2018.01.10 Climate information has been condensed or excised from the websites of at least six federal agencies under the first year of the Trump administration. buzzfeed.com (See also Climate Change, Environment, Assaults on Facts, Assaults on Government, Department of the Interior, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke)
2018.01.21 If the Environmental Protection Agency does not implement restrictions on pesticides (including chlorpyrifos, which hampers the development of children's brains) advocated in a recent National Marine Fisheries Services report, environmental activists and commercial fisheries hoping to preserve Pacific Northwest stocks of "salmon, sturgeon, orca and other endangered species" may file lawsuits. gizmodo.com (See also Environment, Scott Pruitt, Reversals)
This was a reversal of a Barack Obama-era initiative to ban chlorpyrifos, but changed after a meeting between Scott Pruitt and Andrew Liveris, the then-head of its manufacturer, Dow Chemical.
2018.01.29 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt was personally involved in the purging of information from the agency's website in the early months of the Trump administration, according to documents obtained by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), as pages on the EPA's website about climate change started disappearing or getting redirected to sites touting the president's fossil fuel agenda. thinkprogress.org (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment, Censorship)
2018.02.01 A wave of retirements has hit the Environmental Protection Agency's research program to identify and evaluate toxic chemicals, as it faces a shrinking budget under the Trump administration and a complicated overhaul of how it conducts chemical assessments. buzzfeed.com (See also Environment, Resignations and Dismissals, Scott Pruitt)
2018.02.07 EPA Chief Scott Pruitt believes global warming might be a good thing. earther.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change)
2018.02.11 Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, has been traveling first-class and staying at hotels significantly more expensive than has been the agency's norm. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2018.02.18 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has canceled a nearly week-long trip to Israel, as he has come under fire over the past week for the cost of his domestic and international travel. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Israel)
In May, the head of Pruitt's security detail recommended he travel either business or first class whenever possible to avoid public confrontations with critics.
2018.02.26 A federal environmental program that distributes grants to test the effects of chemical exposure on adults and children is being shuttered amidst a major organization consolidation at the Environmental Protection Agency. thehill.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
The program is perhaps best known for its handling of fellowships that study the effects of chemicals on children's health.
2018.03.07 A key aide to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has been granted permission to make extra money moonlighting for private clients whose identities are being kept secret. apnews.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
2018.03.09 John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, has killed an effort by Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA to stage public debates questioning the validity of climate change science, thwarting a plan that had intrigued President Trump even as it set off alarm bells among his top advisers. nytimes.com (See also Climate Change, Scott Pruitt, John Kelly, Assaults on Facts)
2018.03.18 The White House budget office said on Wednesday it was probing whether a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed for Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt violated the law, while dozens of Democratic senators called for him to resign over allegations of ethics lapses. reuters.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Mick Mulvaney)
2018.03.21 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt spent more than $120,000 in public funds last summer for a trip to Italy that included a meeting of G-7 ministers and a private tour of the Vatican and use of a military jet. apnews.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
Pruitt attended only the first few hours of the summit before flying back to Washington.
2018.03.26 A proposed policy would bar the E.P.A. from considering research that doesn't release its raw data for review, a move that would severely restrict the research available to it when writing environmental regulations, barring them from using some of the most consequential research of recent decades, such as studies linking air pollution to premature deaths or work that measures human exposure to pesticides. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts, Assaults on Government, Environment)
These fields of research are often private because they require personal health information for thousands of individuals, who typically agree to participate only if the details of their lives are kept confidential.
2018.03.26 In his first year at the E.P.A., Scott Pruitt has proposed repealing or delaying more than thirty significant environmental rules. newyorker.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment, Climate Change)
2018.03.28 The Environmental Protection Agency sent staffers eight approved climate change talking points, encouraging staffers to highlight a lack of evidence that ties humans to climate change. thehill.com (See also False Statements, Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts, Climate Change)
2018.03.29 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt plans to sign a declaration by Sunday that the Obama administration's vehicle efficiency rules for 2022 through 2025 are "not appropriate" and must be revised. reuters.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Environment, Reversals)
2018.03.29 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt leased a Washington apartment owned by a lobbyist friend last year under terms that allowed him to pay $50 a night for a single bedroom -- but only on the nights when he actually slept there. bloomberg.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's lease at a Washington apartment owned by a lobbyist friend allowed him to pay $50 a night for a single bedroom, but only on the nights when he actually slept there.
2018.03.29 For much of his first year in Washington, Trump's EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt occupied prime real estate in a townhouse near the U.S. Capitol that is co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist. abcnews.go.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.03.30 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's 24-hour security in Washington extends to at least some of his personal trips, including trips home, a trip to the Rose Bowl and a trip to Disneyland. cnn.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.02 Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A. chief, was using an apartment partly owned by the wife of the chairman of the lobbying firm while its client sought the agency's sign off on a pipeline project... which was then approved. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Conflicts of Interest, Corruption)
2018.04.02 The Trump administration announced Monday afternoon that Obama-era rules to reduce climate pollution from cars and trucks have got to go because they are too strict. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Environment, Reversals)
It's the latest example of the Trump administration gutting environmental and climate rules.
2018.04.03 Scott Pruitt bypassed the White House to give big raises to his favorite aides. theatlantic.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Reversals)
The EPA chief used an obscure provision last month to increase the salaries of a pair of staffers by tens of thousands of dollars, despite the White House declining to approve the raises.
2018.04.05 At least five officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, four of them high-ranking, were reassigned or demoted, or requested new jobs in the past year after they raised concerns about the spending and management of the agency's administrator, Scott Pruitt. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
The concerns included unusually large spending on office furniture and first-class travel, as well as certain demands by Mr. Pruitt for security coverage, such as requests for a bulletproof vehicle and an expanded 20-person protective detail, according to people who worked for or with the E.P.A. and have direct knowledge of the situation.
2018.04.06 Scott Pruitt was only supposed to be living in the Capitol Hill condominium that has become a focal point of his latest ethics controversy for six weeks last year, but the new Environmental Protection Agency administrator didn't leave when his lease ended, so his landlords had to push him out and change the locks. politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.10 The EPA removed a career staffer, Mario Caraballo, who approved an internal report that undermined Administrator Scott Pruitt's claims that he needed around-the-clock bodyguards and other expensive security protection. politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Resignations and Dismissals)
2018.04.11 When Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency head, decided to refashion the agency's souvenir medallion, he proposed deleting the E.P.A. logo and adding symbols more reflective of himself. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
When Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency head, decided to refashion the agency's souvenir medallion, he proposed deleting the E.P.A. logo and adding symbols more reflective of himself.
2018.04.12 A former Secret Service agent, with a background investigating the Gambino crime family, Pasquale Perrotta, is serving as the chief of security for Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has clashed — at least once physically — with top E.P.A. officials who challenged Mr. Pruitt's spending, and has steered at least one E.P.A. security contract to a business associate. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.04.12 A former top EPA staffer has told Democratic lawmakers that the agency fired him after he refused to retroactively approve the first-class travel of one of Administrator Scott Pruitt's closest aides "because it violated federal travel regulations." politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Resignations and Dismissals)
2018.04.12 Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, insisted on staying in luxury hotels that were costlier than allowed by government standards, while also pushing to fly on an airline not on the government's approved list so he could accrue more frequent flier miles, one of his top former deputies at agency has told congressional investigators. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.16 A government watchdog agency concluded that the Environmental Protection Agency violated federal law in spending more than $43,000 to install a private phone booth in EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's office. abcnews.go.com (See also Legal Issues, Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.17 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt upgraded his official car last year to a costlier, larger vehicle with bullet-resistant covers over bucket seats, because it was similar to ones in which some other Cabinet officials rode. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.19 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses, spent about $45,000 in government money to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled. reuters.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.04.22 Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt met in his office last year with a veteran Washington lobbyist tied to the bargain-priced condo where Pruitt was living, despite Pruitt and lobbyist Steven Hart previously denying Hart had conducted any recent business with EPA. theguardian.com (See also Reversals, Scott Pruitt, False Statements)
2018.04.23 A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Trump administration cannot delay a regulation that increased automakers' fines for cars that violate fuel efficiency standards. thehill.com (See also Reversals, Legal Activity, Environment, Scott Pruitt)
2018.04.24 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt moved to limit what science can be used in writing agency regulations, a change long sought by conservatives. washingtonpost.com (See also Assaults on Facts, Scott Pruitt)
2018.04.24 Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, faces nearly a dozen federal inquiries into his travel expenses, security practices and other issues. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.04.27 The Trump administration has drafted a proposal that would freeze fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles starting in 2021 and challenge California's ability to set its own fuel-efficiency rules, changes that would hobble one of the Obama administration's most significant initiatives to curb climate change. washingtonpost.com (See also Climate Change, Environment, Scott Pruitt, Reversals)
2018.04.30 A whistleblower from the Environmental Protection Agency says that Administrator Scott Pruitt was "bold-faced" lying when he told members of Congress that no EPA employees were retaliated against for raising concerns about his spending decisions. abcnews.go.com (See also Scott Pruitt, False Statements, Corruption)
2018.04.30 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter, so they can avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs. reuters.com (See also Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Scott Pruitt)
2018.05.01 A trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who then won a $40,000/month contract with the Moroccan government. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.05.01 Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday announced a lawsuit by California and 17 other states against the Trump administration to protect national vehicle emission standards from being rolled back by the federal government. latimes.com (See also Environment, Legal Activity)
2018.05.01 Two top aides to Scott Pruitt, the EPA chief who is facing an array of investigations related to his spending and management practices, have resigned amid widening scrutiny of their roles at the agency. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Resignations and Dismissals)
2018.05.03 As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, by shopping negative stories about Zinke to multiple press outlets. theatlantic.com (See also Ryan Zinke, Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Department of the Interior)
2018.05.03 As a state senator in Oklahoma 15 years ago, Mr. Pruitt bought a home in the state capital with a registered lobbyist who was pushing for changes to the state's workers' compensation rules — changes that Mr. Pruitt championed in the legislature, while Mr. Pruitt never publicly disclosed his financial relationship with the lobbyist, who, like Mr. Pruitt, lived in the home when in Oklahoma City on business. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.05.04 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt paid himself nearly $65,000 in reimbursements from his two campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general, a move at least one election watchdog has sharply criticized as being recorded so vaguely that there was no way to tell if such payments were lawful cnn.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
A CNN analysis has found that embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt paid himself nearly $65,000 in reimbursements from his two campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general, a move at least one election watchdog has sharply criticized as being recorded so vaguely that there was no way to tell if such payments were lawful.
2018.05.04 The EPA's ethics controversies keep growing - here's what you need to know. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.05.11 Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, dined last year in Rome with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denialist and Vatican leader who was also facing sexual abuse allegations, despite the fact that the EPA later released official descriptions of the dinner that intentionally did not mention the cardinal's presence. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, False Statements)
2018.05.14 Scott Pruitt began receiving round-the-clock security from the moment he stepped foot inside the Environmental Protection Agency in February 2017, at the behest of a Trump administration political appointee, contrary to what he has claimed publicly about his needs for extra security. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Scott Pruitt)
2018.05.14 Scott Pruitt's EPA and the White House sought to block publication of a federal health study on a nationwide water-contamination crisis, after one Trump administration aide warned it would cause a "public relations nightmare." politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environment)
2018.05.15 The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general will investigate whether Scott Pruitt, the agency's administrator, complied with federal law in his use of E.P.A. email addresses that he did not disclose. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, False Statements)
This is now the 12th federal inquiry into Mr. Pruitt's management practices at the agency, including first-class travel expenses, the installation of a $43,000 soundproof phone booth and his rental of a $50-a-night condo from the wife of a lobbyist with business before the agency.
2018.05.22 The Environmental Protection Agency is barring The Associated Press, CNN and the environmental-focused news organization E&E from a national summit on harmful water contaminants. apnews.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Civil Liberties)
2018.05.23 White House officials last year weighed whether to simply "ignore" climate studies produced by government scientists or to instead develop "a coherent, fact-based message about climate science." washingtonpost.com (See also Climate Change, Environment, Assaults on Facts, Scott Pruitt)
It did not consider touting federal scientists' findings.
2018.06.05 Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his scheduler emailed the CEO of the fast-food company Chick-fil-A, asking for a job for his wife, Marlyn. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Scott Pruitt)
2018.06.06 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt loves eating at the White House mess, but the White House has asked him to please eat elsewhere, as he has visited it too many times. politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2018.06.06 Two of Scott Pruitt's most trusted aides have given notice that they are leaving the Environmental Protection Agency as its embattled administrator faces growing scrutiny over his spending and management decisions. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Resignations and Dismissals)
2018.06.07 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked members of his 24/7 security detail to run errands for him on occasion, including picking up his dry cleaning and taking him in search of a favorite moisturizing lotion. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Scott Pruitt)
2018.06.07 The E.P.A. has in most cases decided to exclude from its calculations any potential exposure caused by the substances' presence in the air, the ground or water, according to more than 1,500 pages of documents released last week by the agency, instead focusing on possible harm caused by direct contact with a chemical in the workplace or elsewhere. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Environment, Scott Pruitt)
The approach means that the improper disposal of chemicals — leading to the contamination of drinking water, for instance — will often not be a factor in deciding whether to restrict or ban them.
2018.06.13 Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last year had a top aide help contact Republican donors who might offer his wife a job, eventually securing her a position at a conservative political group that has backed him for years, according to multiple individuals familiar with the matter. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Scott Pruitt, Nepotism)
2018.06.15 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt bought tickets for himself and his family to watch the Oklahoma Sooners play in the Rose Bowl with help from a marketing executive whose firm represents energy companies, including one client with business before the EPA. abcnews.go.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.06.15 Scott Pruitt's laundry list of scandals. axios.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
There are at least 14 as of today, none of which, mind you, have anything to do with his policies which are gutting the environment.
2018.06.15 Senior staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency frequently felt pressured by Scott Pruitt, the administrator, to help in personal matters and obtain special favors for his family, according to interviews with four current and former E.P.A. officials who served as top political aides to Mr. Pruitt. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.06.20 Scott Pruitt has now spent more than $4.6 million from public coffers on security, a $1.1 million increase from Pruitt's total security costs as released in another disclosure just a month ago including $2,749.62 on "tactical pants" and "tactical polos." theintercept.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.06.21 A major federal study concluded contaminated groundwater across the country, especially near military bases, was more toxic than the government realized, so aides to Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt pressured the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry against releasing the results. newrepublic.com (See also Assaults on Civil Liberties, Scott Pruitt, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Defense)
2018.06.22 An examination of Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt's government email accounts has uncovered only one message he wrote to anyone outside EPA during his first 10 months in office — a number that has watchdogs questioning whether he is communicating in private. politico.com (See also Scott Pruitt)
2018.06.24 Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, discussed hiring a friend of a lobbyist family that owned a condominium he was renting for $50 a night, newly released emails suggest, and that the lobbyist's client interests that had not previously been disclosed, suggesting a closer relationship between the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, and the agency than previously known. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest)
2018.07.02 Samantha Dravis, the former policy chief at the Environmental Protection Agency, told a congressional committee that Scott Pruitt, the administrator, asked her to help find his wife a job as a fund-raiser at the Republican Attorneys General Association, and used staff for other personal errands. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, Nepotism)
2018.07.03 EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides have kept "secret" calendars and schedules to overtly hide controversial meetings or calls with industry representatives and others, as EPA staffers met routinely in Pruitt's office to "scrub," alter or remove from Pruitt's official calendar numerous records because they might "look bad," according to Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt's former deputy chief of staff. cnn.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption, False Statements)
2018.07.03 Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt repeatedly asked his assistants to pay for his hotel reservations on their personal credit cards, and then refused to pay them back. businessinsider.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.07.04 EPA chief Scott Pruitt's long list of controversies cnn.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Fact-Checking Resources, Corruption)
2018.07.05 Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, resigned after facing months of allegations over legal and ethical violations. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, Scott Pruitt, Corruption)
2018.07.05 The Environmental Protection Agency will be led in the coming months by Mr. Pruitt's deputy, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who shares Mr. Pruitt's zeal to undo environmental regulations. nytimes.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Climate Change, Environment, Resignations and Dismissals)
2018.07.10 The Trump administration is taking a big step forward in its effort to replace the Obama administration's climate change rule for power plants with a more industry-friendly alternative, reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. thehill.com (See also Climate Change, Reversals)
2018.07.17 The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to overhaul requirements for handling the toxic waste produced by burning coal, providing more flexibility to state and industry officials who had sought a rollback of restrictions put in place in 2015. washingtonpost.com (See also Climate Change, Environment)
2018.07.23 The Trump administration will seek to revoke California's authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions -- including its mandate for electric-car sales -- in a proposed revision of Obama-era standards. bloomberg.com (See also Reversals, Environment)
2018.08.02 The Trump administration proposed a freeze to car mileage standards that would increase air pollution, calling for a 37-mpg average by 2021, reversing the Obama administration standards of 54-mpg by 2025. buzzfeednews.com (See also Reversals, Climate Change, Environment)
The administration claims that lighter, more fuel-efficient cars would kill nearly 1,000 people a year, but EPA analysis suggests otherwise.
2018.08.06 Asbestos is now legally allowed back into U.S. manufacturing under a serious of loopholes by the Environmental Protection Agency. archpaper.com (See also Reversals)
2018.08.10 A federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping a widely used pesticide on the market despite extensive scientific evidence that even tiny levels of exposure can harm babies' brains, ordering the the Environmental Protection Agency to remove chlorpyrifos from sale in the United States within 60 days. apnews.com (See also Legal Activity, Reversals, Scott Pruitt)
2018.08.17 A federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to immediately implement an Obama-era chemical safety rule introduced in response to a 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas that killed 15 people. reuters.com (See also Reversals, Legal Activity)
2018.08.19 As a corporate lawyer, William L. Wehrum worked for the better part of a decade to weaken air pollution rules by fighting the Environmental Protection Agency in court on behalf of chemical manufacturers, refineries, oil drillers and coal-burning power plants, but he is about to deliver one of the biggest victories yet for his industry clients — this time from inside the Trump administration as the government's top air pollution official, as Donald Trump is expected to propose a vast rollback of regulations on emissions from coal plants, including many owned by members of a coal... nytimes.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Corruption)
2018.08.21 The Trump administration's own analysis of its overhaul of federal pollution restrictions, revealed that they could lead to as many as 1,400 premature deaths annually by 2030 from an increase in the extremely fine particulate matter that is linked to heart and lung disease, up to 15,000 new cases of upper respiratory problems, a rise in bronchitis, and tens of thousands of missed school days. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Reversals, Nationalism)
2018.09.10 The Trump administration, taking its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, is preparing to make it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Reversals, Department of the Interior)
2018.09.26 The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday placed the head of its Office of Children's Health Protection on administrative leave, an unusual move that appeared to reflect an effort to minimize the role of the office. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Government, Health Care)
2018.09.30 The Trump administration has completed a detailed legal proposal to dramatically weaken a major environmental regulation covering mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Reversals)
2018.10.02 The EPA is pursuing rule changes that experts say would weaken the way radiation exposure is regulated, turning to scientific outliers who argue that a bit of radiation damage is actually good for you — unlike the current, decades-old guidance says that any exposure to harmful radiation is a cancer risk. apnews.com (See also Reversals)
2018.10.03 When former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt launched an effort to limit what kinds of scientific studies could be used to protect public health, he left out some key experts, including the Environmental Protection Agency's own Office of the Science Advisor. washingtonpost.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Assaults on Facts)
Tom Sinks, director of the office, said in an April 24 email that "Even though OSA and I have not participated in the development of this document and I just this moment obtained it (have yet to read it), I am listed as the point of contact."
2018.10.08 The Trump administration is moving to allow year-round sales of gasoline with higher blends of ethanol, a boon for Iowa and other farm states that have pushed for greater sales of the corn-based fuel, which is currently banned during the summer due to concerns that it contributes to smog on hot days. cbsnews.com (See also Reversals, Environment)
2018.10.09 Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, repeatedly engaged with inflammatory content on his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts over the past five years, including some in the past month, including a racist image of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on Facebook and retweeting an infamous "Pizzagate" conspiracy theorist. huffingtonpost.com (See also Racism, Belief in Conspiracy Theories)
2018.10.11 An Environmental Protection Agency panel that advises the agency's leadership on the latest scientific information about soot in the atmosphere is disbanding. nytimes.com (See also Environment, Assaults on Facts)
The 20-person Particulate Matter Review Panel, made up of experts in microscopic airborne pollutants known to cause respiratory disease, is responsible for helping the agency decide what levels of pollutants are safe to breathe.
2018.10.19 The Trump administration announced it would withdraw an Obama-era proposal aimed at regulating how waste from uranium milling is disposed. thehill.com (See also Reversals, Environment)
2018.10.31 The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly signaled it may allow states to release more ozone air pollution, commonly known as smog, dirtying the air in those states and neighboring ones, but the agency did not review the health impact of such a move. cnn.com (See also Environment, Climate Change)
2018.11.08 Sometime during the night of Oct. 16, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eliminated more than 80 climate change web pages — many of the last vestiges to the agency's online recognition of climate change. mashable.com (See also Climate Change, Environment)
2018.11.13 A Jefferson County grand jury has indicted the Southeast regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and a former Alabama Environmental Management Commissioner for violating state ethics laws. al.com (See also Corruption, Criminality, Legal Activity)
2018.11.27 Fox & Friends shared its interview scripts and questions in advance with former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, and Pruitt's team even approved part of the show's script. thedailybeast.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Scott Pruitt)
2018.12.07 The Environmental Protection Agency, now led by acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, has announced more rollbacks regulations on coal-fired power plants, including the loosening an Obama-era restriction on how much carbon dioxide new coal power plants can emit. vox.com (See also Reversals, Environment, Climate Change)
2018.12.07 The Trump administration is poised to ease an Obama-era water rule, shrinking the number of waterways that are protected from industry pollutants. thehill.com (See also Environment, Reversals)
2018.12.10 The Trump administration is expected to unveil a plan that would weaken federal clean water rules designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of miles of streams nationwide from pesticide runoff and other pollutants. nytimes.com (See also Reversals, Environment)
2018.12.13 When the Trump administration laid out a plan this year that would eventually allow cars to emit more pollution, even automakers, the obvious winners from the proposal, balked, but it turns out that there was a hidden beneficiary of the plan that was pushing for the changes all along: the nation's oil industry, including Marathon Petroleum, who worked with powerful oil-industry groups and a conservative policy network financed by the billionaire industrialist Charles G. Koch to run a stealth campaign to roll back car emissions standards. nytimes.com (See also Corruption, Environment, Reversals)
You can submit news on this topic. If something's wrong on this page, help us fix it.
There are only 364 days to go in the Trump administration.


11/5/2018 18:42:15 Livin the Family Life!
11/5/2018 18:42:33 Livin the Family Life!
11/5/2018 18:43:13 Livin the Family Life!
I'll take PM's or emails with your vote and identities will remain anonymous.
11/6/2018 18:52:14 Livin the Family Life!
11/6/2018 18:52:31 Livin the Family Life!
standings messed up JOH looks like result lines are one off?
sorry I don't see what you are seeing. Looks ok to me.
totally missed that. I'll fix right now.
11/7/2018 18:33:08 Livin the Family Life!


We're just two days away from the debut of the new Battlestar Galactica prequel web series Blood and Chrome, and if you weren't already stoked, this clip will definitely put you over the edge. Long before he was an admiral with the fate of humanity in his hands, William Adama was just one damn good pilot.
In this clip from the 10-part series, a partnership between Syfy and Machinima, young William Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino) finds himself in a dogfight with two Cylon fighters, and his Viper is a little worse for wear. To even his odds, he pulls off a daring, almost suicidal and seriously badass maneuver.
An all-new chapter in the Battlestar Galactica saga, Blood and Chrome takes place in the midst of the first Cylon war. As the battle between humans and their creation, the sentient robot Cylons, rages across the 12 colonial worlds, a young, talented fighter pilot, William Adama, finds himself assigned to one of the most powerful battlestars in the Colonial fleet: the Galactica.
The first installment of Blood and Chrome will hit Machinima's YouTube channel Friday, with the rest following over the next month. Then, next year, we're getting a full-length movie follow-up from Syfy. What do you think? Does this clip have you more pumped for the show?


text:
What to do before the eviction ban ends
Coronavirus Response, Housing, News
Due to the risk of community spread and rising case numbers, the CDC has extended the Eviction Moratorium until October 3rd in areas with substantial and high community transmission rates. "The coronavirus pandemic has forced renters struggling to pay their monthly bills into a delicate dance with landlords also worried about paying their tax and utility bills," writes Corrinne Hess with Wisconsin Public Radio.
Plainly stated, tenants want to keep their homes, and landlords need to pay their bills. It's a lot easier for both if tenants can stay where they're at. That's especially true for those waiting to apply for an anticipated $629 million in federal rent assistance earmarked for Wisconsin.
To be protected under the most recent moratorium, you must file a declaration form.
Regardless of whether or not you are protected by the most recent eviction moratorium, resources are available to help you stay in your home.
Statewide Programs
211.org – a confidential website and 24/7 service line where you can find the most up-to-date information about local assistance that may be available to you.
Emergency Assistance – a fast payment to help families keep housing, get housing, or pay their utilities.
Community Resources to Help with Housing – a list of statewide resources, curated by the United Way.
WERA (Wisconsin Emergency Rental Assistance) is accepting applications to provide up to 12 months assistance for current and/or overdue rent and utility payments to people who experienced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see the WERA frequently asked questions for more information.
Find a local Wisconsin agency that is distributing funds from Emergency Rental Assistance to help tenants and landlords during the eviction ban.
It might also help to read this FAQ from Forbes about who's eligible for these funds.
The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has a great resource to reference if your landlord has moved forward with the eviction process.
Resources by County
Milwaukee Emergency Rental Assistance (MERA), offered through the Social Development Commission (SDC), provides rent assistance to those experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
Landlord and Tenant Resources from the Oshkosh Area United Way – a list of rental resources available in Winnebago County.
Tribal Community Members
Ho-Chunk Nation Emergency Rental Assistance
Menominee Indian Tribe COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance
Oneida Emergency Rental/Utility Assistance Program
Red Cliff Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Bad River Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Note: This post was updated on August 4, 2021 to reflect the eviction ban extension from July 31 to October 3, 2021. For more information about this extension, please visit the CDC's update.
This post will be updated regularly to reflect the most current resources available to Wisconsin residents.
assistance, ban, bills, emergency, eviction, funds, Housing, landlords, moratorium, pay, Rent, tenants
Willie's Success
CDC Steps in to Stop Evictions

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


These cute and fun Cupcake Address Labels will make you smile and dig out the baking supplies to make your own cupcake creations. Cupcakes are also called fairy cakes and patty cakes. Frosting and sprinkles are very popular. Get those creative talents cooking and put together some frosted fruity fairy cakes!


text:
About jtd
iMDT Corner
ESTS-AME Prize column
AME Fellow Page
Meet the Thoracic Surgery Team
Surgical Videos
Vol 11, No 3 (March 2019) /
Time to tracheal intubation over a fibreoptic bronchoscope using a silicone left double-lumen endobronchial tube...
Time to tracheal intubation over a fibreoptic bronchoscope using a silicone left double-lumen endobronchial tube versus polyvinyl chloride single-lumen tube with bronchial blocker: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial
Ji Young Yoo1#, Yun Jeong Chae1#, Sung Yong Park1, Seokjin Haam2, Myungseob Kim1, Dae Hee Kim1
1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, 2Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea
Contributions: (I) Conception and design: All authors; (II) Administrative support: YJ Chae, S Haam, M Kim, DH Kim; (III) Provision of patients: YJ Chae, JY Yoo, S Haam, DH Kim; (IV) Collection and assembly of data: YJ Chae, DH Kim; (V) Data analysis and interpretation: all authors; (VI)Manuscript writing: All authors; (VII)Final approval of manuscript: All authors.
#These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Dae Hee Kim. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, 164, Worldcup-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon 16499, Korea. Email: anekim@ajou.ac.kr.
Background: Direct insertion of a double-lumen endobronchial tube (DLT) over a fibreoptic bronchoscope (FOB) is considered more difficult and traumatic than that of a single-lumen tube (SLT). We hypothesized that time to intubation over an FOB using a silicone left DLT would be non-inferior to that using a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) SLT.
Methods: Eighty patients were enrolled in this open-label, randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial. Patients were randomly allocated to fibreoptic tracheal intubation with either a silicone DLT or PVC SLT (DLT and SLT groups, respectively). Time to tracheal intubation [time to insertion of FOB plus railroading (advancement over the FOB) time]; total time for correct tube and bronchial blocker positioning; difficulty of railroading; and the incidence of sore throat, swallowing difficulty, and hoarseness were compared between groups.
Results: The median time to intubation over the FOB was 20 s in the DLT group and 23 s in the SLT group. The upper limit of the confidence interval of this difference was below the non-inferiority margin of 10 s (median difference: –2 s; 95% confidence interval: –4 to 0 s). Railroading time was significantly shorter in the DLT group than in the SLT group (median time: 10 vs. 11 s; median difference: –1 s; 95% confidence interval: –3 to 0 s; P=0.03). Railroading over the FOB (rated on a four-point scale) was less difficult in the DLT group than in the SLT group (P<0.01).
Conclusions: Tracheal intubation using an FOB can be achieved at least as fast using the silicone DLT as using the PVC SLT. The silicone DLT exhibited superior railroading performance to the PVC SLT.
Keywords: Airway management; bronchoscopes; intubation, endotracheal
Submitted Oct 25, 2018. Accepted for publication Jan 24, 2019.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2019.01.108
Many intrathoracic procedures demand optimal collapse of the operative lung to facilitate surgical exposure (1). Single-lung ventilation can be achieved using a double-lumen tube (DLT), a Univent tube, or an independent bronchial blocker. Among these, DLTs are advantageous for several reasons, including quick placement, rapid and clear deflation, suctioning from the isolated lung, and application of continuous positive airway pressure when necessary (2-10). Insertion of a DLT using a direct laryngoscope can be more difficult than that of single-lumen tube (SLT), especially in patients for whom airway difficulty is anticipated (11). Several techniques have been suggested to address this issue, including direct placement of the DLT over a fibreoptic bronchoscope (FOB), use of a lighted stylet, use of a fibreoptic laryngoscope (WuScope), and the retrograde wire technique (12-14). The safest of the proposed methods involves the placement of an SLT with the aid of an FOB, following which the SLT is replaced with a DLT using an airway exchange technique (12,15), because it is believed that direct placement of the DLT over the FOB is more traumatic and difficult than that of the SLT (9,11,12,15-19). Only two case reports have discussed the direct placement of a polyvinylchloride (PVC) DLT over an FOB (20,21). The expected difficulty is mainly associated with railroading (advancement over the FOB) the DLT into the trachea because DLTs are larger and less compliant (19,21).
One recent simulation study demonstrated that a soft silicone DLT with a flexible, wire-reinforced bronchial tip (Fuji-Phycon tube) may shorten the time to intubation via tube exchange when compared with less compliant, PVC DLTs such as the Mallinckrodt or Rusch DLT (22). HumanBroncho® (Insung Medical, Seoul, Korea) is a new silicone DLT with a soft, flexible, non-bevelled, wire-reinforced tip. The oval shape, obtuse angle, and short lateral internal diameter of the bronchial lumen and its flexibility (Table 1, Figure 1) may allow for advancement to the trachea over the FOB with as much as ease as a PVC SLT.
Table 1 Outer and inner diameter of each tube
Figure 1 Silicone double-lumen tube (A) and design of bronchial lumen (B).
In the present study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that the silicone DLT would be non-inferior to a PVC SLT with regard to intubation time over an FOB. We further aimed to compare the ease of railroading the tracheal tube over the FOB between the silicone DLT and PVC SLT.
The present study was a single-centre, prospective, open-label, randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial involving two parallel groups. We recruited patients from Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, South Korea, from May 2017 to Aug 2017. Patients with American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) physical status class I or II, aged 20–75 years, and scheduled for thoracic surgery requiring single-lung ventilation were eligible for inclusion. Patients with histories of cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, or upper airway disease; increased risk of pulmonary aspiration; or body mass index >30 kg/m2 were excluded. Written informed consent was obtained from each patient on the day prior to surgery. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups (SLT group and DLT group) in a 1:1 allocation ratio using a computer-generated random number table. The allocation process was conducted by a colleague who remained independent of this research project. The randomization result was concealed within serially numbered opaque envelopes, which were opened in the operating room prior to induction of anaesthesia.
The operation was performed with the patient's head resting on a large, donut-shaped pillow, and all patients received standardized general anaesthesia until the end of the research protocol. All patients underwent electrocardiography, non-invasive monitoring of blood pressure, pulse oximetry, capnography, and measurement of volatile anaesthetic levels. The depth of anaesthesia was monitored using a bispectral index monitor [BIS VISTATM Monitor (four-electrode sensor), Aspect Medical Systems, Norwood, MA, USA]. Following preoxygenation with a tight-fitting mask for 3 min, anaesthesia was induced using fentanyl (2 µg/kg) and thiopental sodium (4 mg/kg). Neuromuscular blockade was established using rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg). The patient's lungs were ventilated with sevoflurane (end-tidal concentration: 2–3%) in oxygen. Two min after rocuronium injection, mouth opening (inter-incisor distance), thyromental distance, and modified Cormack-Lehane grade were measured via direct laryngoscopy.
In both groups, a flexible FOB (PortaView® LF-GP; Olympus Optical Company, Tokyo, Japan) with a diameter of 4.1 mm was used for tracheal intubation, and jaw thrust was applied to all patients to clear the airway without the aid of an intubating airway. The tip of the FOB was positioned above the carina, following which the preloaded SLT or DLT was railroaded over the FOB. If advancement of the tracheal tube was impeded during the attempt, the tracheal tube was withdrawn 2–3 cm over the FOB, rotated 90° counter-clockwise, and re-advanced towards the trachea. If further resistance was encountered, the degree of counter-clockwise rotation was increased until successful intubation was achieved.
Time to insertion of the FOB was defined as the time from the passage of the FOB beyond the teeth to FOB positioning above the carina. Railroading time was defined as the time from FOB positioning above the carina to confirmation of tracheal tube positioning in the trachea above the carina, not to the correct positioning of the DLT or SLT. Time to tracheal tube intubation was defined as the time to insertion plus the railroading time. Total time required for correct positioning of the DLT or bronchial blocker was defined as the time from the passage of the FOB beyond the teeth to confirmation of correct positioning of the bronchial blocker or DLT into the desired mainstem bronchus via the FOB. The difficulty of railroading the tube was graded along a four-point scale (1, no difficulty passing the tube; 2, obstruction while passing the tube, relieved by withdrawal and a 90° counter-clockwise rotation; 3, obstruction necessitating more than one manipulation or external laryngeal manipulation; 4, direct laryngoscopy was required) (23). After correct positioning had been achieved, anaesthesia was maintained using sevoflurane (end-tidal concentration: 1.5–2.5%) in 50% oxygen in an oxygen-air mixture.
In the SLT group, a standard bevelled Portex® endotracheal tube (Smiths Medical, Hythe, UK; male patients: 8.0 mm internal diameter, female patients: 7.0 mm internal diameter, Table 1) was used, and the bevel of the tube was oriented to the patient's left. Once the SLT was positioned 2–3 cm above the carina, a smaller FOB (PortaView® LF-DP; Olympus Optical Company, Tokyo, Japan; outer diameter 3.1 mm) was passed through the SLT to allow for visualization of the carina, and the bronchial blocker (Coopdech Endobronchial Blocker tube; Daiken, Osaka, Japan) was passed into the appropriate mainstem bronchus, following which the FOB was removed. In the DLT group, the insertion of bronchial lumen through the vocal cord was initially performed with the concave curvature facing left. Once the left-sided silicone DLT (Figure 1) appeared above the carina in the eyepiece of the FOB, the FOB was used to confirm entry of the bronchial lumen into the left main bronchus. The FOB was then withdrawn and re-inserted into the tracheal lumen for correct positioning of the DLT.
All fibreoptic intubations and bronchial blocker insertions were performed by a single anaesthetist (DH Kim) who was familiar with and had been trained in bronchial blocker insertion and intubation using an FOB. Times were recorded by another anaesthetist (YJ Chae) using a video camera.
The primary outcome measure of the present study was the difference in the time to intubation between the groups, designed as a non-inferiority test. The acceptable margin for non-inferiority was pre-set at 10 s. The sample size for this non-inferiority margin was calculated based on an assumed standard deviation (SD) of 18 s, based on the findings of previous study (24). This calculation revealed that a total of 40 patients per group would be necessary to achieve a power of 80% at a significance level of 5%. Other secondary endpoints included the following: time to insertion of the FOB, railroading time, total time for correct tube and bronchial blocker positioning, grade of railroading difficulty over the FOB, and degree of hoarseness, sore throat, and swallowing difficulty in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU). All secondary endpoints were analysed for superiority.
Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 21 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Continuous data were tested for normality of distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The primary outcome was assessed based on the median difference and 95% confidence interval using the Hodges-Lehmann method. Non-inferiority would have been declared if the upper bound of the two-sided 95% confidence interval for the true difference in the time to endotracheal tube intubation between groups (DLT intubation time minus SLT intubation time) was below the non-inferiority margin of 10 s. Normally distributed data were presented as means with SDs and examined using Student's t-test; non-normally distributed data were compared between the groups using Mann-Whitney U-tests and presented as medians with interquartile ranges. Categorical data were presented as numbers and percentages. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used to compare categorical variables between the groups. The level of statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
A total of 89 patients were assessed for eligibility. Five patients were excluded for meeting exclusion criteria, while four patients were excluded because of the surgeon's request to use a right-sided DLT. Thus, a total of 80 patients were randomized into two groups. The participant flow diagram is presented in Figure 2. These 80 patients underwent fibreoptic tracheal intubation, the first attempt at which was successful in all patients. There were no missing data. Patient characteristics and airway assessment data are presented in Table 2. There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the groups.
Figure 2 CONSORT flow diagram of participant recruitment and assessment.
Table 2 Patient characteristics and airway assessment results
The median intubation time over the FOB was 20 s in the DLT group and 23 s in the SLT group. The median difference and 95% confidence interval were –2 s and –4 to 0 s, respectively. The upper confidence boundary was below the prospectively determined non-inferiority margin of 10 s (Table 3). The time to insertion of the FOB into the trachea was comparable between the groups; however, the railroading time was significantly shorter in the DLT group than in the SLT group (median time: 10 vs. 11 s; median difference: –1 s; 95% confidence interval: –3 to 0 s, respectively; P=0.03). Railroading over the FOB (rated on a four-point scale) was regarded as less difficult in the DLT group than in the SLT group (P<0.01). There was a significant difference in the total time for correct tube and bronchial blocker positioning (median time: 33 vs. 84 s; median difference: –50 s; 95% confidence interval: –57 to –45 s, respectively; P<0.01). There were no differences in the incidence of hoarseness, sore throat, or difficulty swallowing in the PACU between the two groups.
Table 3 Airway management data
The results of the present study demonstrate that the silicone DLT was non-inferior to the PVC SLT with regard to tracheal intubation time over the FOB. In addition, the railroading time over the FOB was shorter—and railroading was rated as less difficult—in the DLT group than in the SLT group.
FOB-guided tracheal intubation is safe and effective in patients with both anticipated and unanticipated difficult airways (19,25-27). However, direct insertion of the DLT over the FOB is expected to be more difficult and traumatic than that of the SLT because the DLT is longer, larger, and less compliant (9,11,12,15-19). Therefore, many anaesthesiologists first insert an SLT into the trachea in order to secure the airway, following which the DLT is placed using a tube exchanger in patients with airway difficulties (12,15). During FOB-guided tracheal intubation, difficulties can be encountered in two main areas: placement of the FOB into the trachea and railroading of the tracheal tube over the FOB (19). The former difficulty is associated with the length of the DLT, while the latter is associated with its larger diameter and relative lack of compliance. Based on our experience in the present study, the length of the DLT did not compromise our ability to manipulate the FOB in the vicinity of the vocal cords. While advancing the FOB in an attempt to position it above the carina, the end portion of the bronchial lumen of the DLT entered into the oropharynx, which did not occur with the SLT.
Previous studies have also reported that the larger diameter and relative lack of compliance of the DLT may make the railroading process more complicated than when performed using a SLT (11,15-17). This difficulty is assumed to result mainly from the PVC material of which DLTs are commonly constructed (28). Softer tubes may represent an appropriate alternative to PVC DLTs (19,29). As expected, our results indicated that the silicone DLT is not only non-inferior to PVC SLT, but rather 3 s faster than the PVC SLT with regard to tracheal intubation time and securing the airway. Moreover, the silicone DLT exhibited superior performance with regard to railroading time and railroading difficulty over the FOB, relative to the PVC SLT. In addition, we observed no significant differences in intubation-related complications such as sore throat, difficulty swallowing, or hoarseness between the two groups. These findings suggest that, with the use of the silicon DLT, direct placement of the DLT over the FOB is feasible. Furthermore, there may be no need to first insert an PVC SLT into the trachea for securing the airway in patients with anticipated airway difficulties.
In the present study, we observed no impingement while railroading the tube over the FOB in 33% of patients in the SLT group and 88% of patients in the DLT group, likely for two reasons. First, the flexible, wire-reinforced bronchial tip allows the silicone DLT to more easily change its direction to follow the curve of the FOB (19,29,30). In previous studies in which an SLT was used, a flexible tube proved easier to advance over the FOB than a PVC tube (29,30). One simulation study demonstrated that a soft, silicone DLT with a flexible, wire-reinforced bronchial tip (Fuji-Phycon tube) resulted in a significantly shorter time to intubation via tube exchange than a PVC DLT such as the Mallinckrodt or Rusch DLT (22). Our results suggest that the flexibility of the tube tip is an important factor that affects railroading over the FOB, regardless of whether it is an SLT or DLT. Second, the non-bevelled, oval, obtuse tip has a bronchial lumen with a short lateral internal diameter, allowing for unobstructed passage of the tube over the FOB, in contrast to the PVC SLT. An orally inserted FOB tends to move posteriorly and rest against the posterior portion of the glottis opening (19,31). The bevelled, acute-angled tip of the SLT may be at risk to impinge on the right arytenoid cartilage, indicating that the obtuse tip of the silicone DLT may have decreased the difficulty of railroading (19,29,32). The tip of the silicone DLT is oval in shape, and the long internal diameter is equal to or shorter (7.5 mm in 37 Fr; 7.0 mm in 35 Fr)—and the short lateral internal diameter is far shorter (4.9 mm in 37 Fr; 4.5 mm in 35 Fr)—than the internal diameter of the PVC SLT. This may reduce the gap between the tube tip and the FOB, thereby decreasing impingement (19). When the tube becomes impinged, counter-clockwise rotation by 90° can reliably overcome the impingement by allowing the bevelled tracheal tube to come into close contact with the FOB (19,33,34). Consistent with this finding, successful advancement was achieved via counter-clockwise rotation by 90° in most patients of the SLT group in whom the first attempt at advancement had failed. Such rotation was also effective in the DLT group, despite the difference in the shape of the tip, indicating that the site of impingement may differ. In patients in whom railroading the tracheal tube had failed following counter-clockwise rotation of 90°, the tracheal tube was rotated counter-clockwise at an angle greater than 90° (railroading difficulty: grade 3). We adopted this manoeuvre from a previous study, which reported that, when the tip of the tracheal tube was rotated counter-clockwise by 90°, impingement was overcome regardless of the impingement site (31). However, to achieve the desired 90° counter-clockwise rotation of the tip, it may be necessary to further increase the degree of rotation at the proximal end of the tracheal tube, since proximal rotation does not always result in proportional rotation at the distal tip of the tube (35). In the present study, further counter-clockwise rotation resolved the impingement in the remaining patients (two patients of the SLT group and one patient of the DLT group) without head manipulation or external laryngeal manipulation.
The time required to place the bronchial lumen of the DLT or a bronchial blocker in the correct position was greater in patients of the SLT group in whom a bronchial blocker was used, consistent with the findings of previous reports (7,36,37). In the SLT group, the time to insertion of the bronchial blocker and confirmation using the FOB seemed to be a time-consuming process: The median time required for this process was 32 s in the DLT group—considerably shorter than the range of 85 to 128 s reported in previous studies (7,36,37), even when individual differences in experience were taken into consideration. This drastic difference may be attributable to the nearly continuous process that began with direct insertion of the silicone DLT over the FOB and ended with final confirmation of tube placement. Tracheal intubation and guidance/placement of the left bronchial tube into the left main bronchus was performed with the aid of an FOB placed in the bronchial lumen. Then, the final position of the DLT was confirmed using the FOB after it had been withdrawn and re-inserted into the tracheal lumen. This process was simple to implement and occurred without interruption. In two patients of the present study, the bronchial lumen was advanced into the right mainstem bronchus under direct observation through the FOB. The DLT was withdrawn, and the FOB was advanced into the left mainstem bronchus for use as a stylet, following which the bronchial lumen was guided into the left mainstem bronchus
The present study had several limitations. First, the anaesthetist performing FOB insertion was not blinded to the tracheal tube used; consequently, the potential for bias exists. Second, the FOB procedure was performed by a single experienced anaesthetist only. Therefore, this finding may not be generalizable to less experienced anaesthetists. Third, the present study was performed in patients with normal airway status, and our findings may not be directly applicable to difficult airway situations. Fourth, tracheal intubation over an FOB requires an additional operator to assist with the jaw thrust.
The findings of the present study indicate that tracheal intubation using an FOB can be achieved at least as fast using the silicone DLT as using the PVC SLT. Furthermore, our results indicate that the silicone DLT exhibited superior performance with regard to railroading over the FOB when compared with the PVC SLT.
This work was supported by Insung Medical, Seoul, Korea (to DH Kim).
Conflicts of Interest: This study was presented as a poster presentation at the 12th Asian Society of Cardiothoracic Anaesthesiologists, Scientific meeting at Hong Kong, in 2017.
Ethical Statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Ajou University Hospital (Suwon, South Korea) (No. AJIRB-DEV-OBS-17-070) and was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT No: NCT03173443).
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Cite this article as: Yoo JY, Chae YJ, Park SY, Haam S, Kim M, Kim DH. Time to tracheal intubation over a fibreoptic bronchoscope using a silicone left double-lumen endobronchial tube versus polyvinyl chloride single-lumen tube with bronchial blocker: a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. J Thorac Dis 2019;11(3):901-908. doi: 10.21037/jtd.2019.01.108
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