Scott Pruitt blows off deadline on reporting unhealthy levels of smog pollution (offers no excuse)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt has missed a deadline that requires his agency to report where Americans are breathing unsafe levels of smog. Back in 2015, the EPA tightened the health standard for ozone from 75 parts per billion to 70 ppb, and under the Clean Air Act, the agency had two years to let the public know where the air is dirtier than is allowed. Especially vulnerable to such conditions are the country’s elderly and asthmatics, six million of whom are children. The deadline was Sunday, but so far Pruitt has had nothing to say about his tardiness. Politico reports that an EPA spokesperson only offered a vague statement about the agency having “no further information” on when it will release the legally required air-quality data. We’d hold our breath in anticipation but…we know better.