EPA Chief Doubts Evolution and Promotes Gay Marriage Ban in Unearthed Recordings

We all know Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is a climate change denier. Well, it turns out he may be skeptical about evolution as well. (I know, I know. Who would’ve guessed?)

In recently unearthed recordings from 2005, long before he was chosen by Donald Trump to lead the nation’s highest environmental office, Pruitt is heard discounting evolution as an unproven “theory” and advocating for constitutional amendments that ban abortion and gay marriage.

The Republican also didn’t object when the host of a radio show described Islam as a “terrorist organization,” according to POLITICO.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005.

“There aren’t sufficient scientific facts to establish the theory of evolution, and it deals with the origins of man, which is more from a philosophical standpoint than a scientific standpoint,” he said in one part of the series, in which Pruitt and the program’s hosts discussed issues related to the Constitution.

It’s sad that the now-head of one of the top scientific posts in the country doesn’t understand how there are generations upon generations of fossil records that confirm evolution by natural selection is a real process in the world. He can choose to deny it, but he can’t say there aren’t “sufficient scientific facts to establish it.” Damn near every scientist would disagree.

This is also not a “philosophical” issue. He’s casting it that way so it doesn’t sound like he’s bucking scientific consensus — he just has his “beliefs” — but that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s ignoring the scientific evidence in favor of his philosophical point of view.

Pruitt used that same fact-free philosophy to support taking rights away from other people — namely women and the LGBTQ community.

Throughout the programs, Pruitt suggested that states might need to call a constitutional convention to propose amendments that would allow expression of religion in government, declare abortion illegal and bar same-sex marriage.

Pruitt acknowledged some trepidation about holding a constitutional convention, which could make wholesale changes to the nation’s founding charter.

“It scares me to a large degree to go into something like a constitutional convention, ’cause that means that we’re going to have to really be educated, and informed, and debate,” he said. “But you know what? Maybe it’s time.”

It isn’t surprising that Pruitt and other conservative Christians would be scared by the idea of an “educated” and “informed” debate. If people were educated and informed, he’d be out of a White House job right now. It is surprising, however, that he was willing to admit that fear on the radio.

The EPA wouldn’t say whether Pruitt’s views have changed since 2005, but considering his current stance on climate change, it’s safe to say he hasn’t. And our country is worse off because of his lack of credibility.

(Screenshot via YouTube)