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Sunday, October 14th, 2018

BP’s defense attorney for oil spill confirmed by Senate to become nation’s top environmental lawyer

Author:     MARK HAND
Source:     Think Progress
Publication Date:     OCT 11, 2018, 4:39 PM
 Link: BP’s defense attorney for oil spill confirmed by Senate to become nation’s top environmental lawyer
Stephan:   And of course, there is always the Trump administration. Here is another example of their consistently choosing the greediest most wellbeing degrading option in order to enrich the few to the detriment of the many.    

Jeffrey Clark, nominee be an assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources, attends his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on June 28, 2017.
Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a lawyer who defended BP after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, to be assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Environment and Natural Resources Division.

In the 52-to-45 vote, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) joined all Republicans present in voting to confirm Clark.

The DOJ office handles all environmental litigation, including bringing both civil and criminal cases against companies and individuals that violate pollution control laws. The office is responsible for enforcing the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act and other major federal environmental laws.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Clark — a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP — in the summer of 2017. But the White House had to renominate him this year because the full Senate failed […]

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