Last week, there was quite the to-do when Sen. Jim Inhofe's (R-OK) released a video they'd unearthed of an EPA regional administrator breaking down his "philosophy of enforcement" by telling his staff to make examples out of environmentalist foes by "crucifying" them. The House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a letter to Mr. Al Armendariz on Friday, warning him that they would likely be requesting his presence sometime soon so that he might have a chance to explain his ghastly comments to the class -- I said I'd follow up on the presumably upcoming hearing, but it looks as if we're to be denied the delight of watching an EPA official try to weasel his way out of an outspoken moment of honesty. Rather than face the music, Mr. Armendariz has cut and run, submitting a letter of resignation to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson:
Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, immediately accepted Mr. Armendariz’s resignation.
“I respect the difficult decision he made and his wish to avoid distracting from the important work of the agency,” Ms. Jackson said in a statement. “We are all grateful for Dr. Armendariz’s service to EPA and to our nation.”
In his resignation letter, Mr. Armendariz, the Dallas-based administrator for the E.P.A.’s Region 6, said: “As I have expressed publicly, and to you directly, I regret comments I made several years ago that do not in any way reflect my work as regional administrator. As importantly, they do not represent the work you have overseen as E.P.A. administrator.”