Shakedowns of corporations by EPA seen ending under Trump administration, by World Tribune.

Many environmentalists are having a meltdown over President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head up the EPA, and it “has nothing to do with climate change,” radio host Erick Erickson said on Dec. 8.

The left insists that Trump’s pick, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, is a climate change denier and has no business managing the EPA that he has often sued.

“But that’s just cover,” Erickson said. “The real reason has everything to do with money.”

“With the blessing of the Department of Justice, the EPA has been going after major corporations and telling those corporations that they can pay a massive fine to the federal government or pay a lesser amount to various environmentalist groups.

“More often than not, to get the EPA off their backs, the companies fork over money to leftwing run environmentalist groups. Those groups then begin a vicious cycle. They start hounding the corporations that give them money, file complaints with the EPA, then get the EPA to shake down the companies for more money,” Erickson said.

A congressional investigation into what the EPA calls its “settlement fund” found:

“Donations can earn up to double credit against defendants’ overall payment obligations, while credit for direct relief to consumers is merely dollar-for-dollar. What is more, documents show that groups that stood to gain from these mandatory donations lobbied DOJ to include them in settlements. DOJ has funneled third-party groups as much as $880 million dollars in just the last 2 years. These payments occur entirely outside of the Congressional appropriations and grant oversight process. What is worse, in some cases, DOJ-mandated donations restore funding that Congress specifically cut.”

The enviro-left has been using environmental regulations to extort money from companies, the money being paid directly to them rather than the government. Clear cut corruption. All that raising money by people in cuddly animal suits at shopping centers is just cover and PR — they are getting the big bucks in the US by shaking down companies using the power of government. Does that happen in Australia too?

Erickson concluded: “When you hear environmental groups complaining about Scott Pruitt, remember that these groups are going to get hit hard financially because the EPA will get out of the business of shaking down corporations to fund leftwing groups.”