Ebell cited the slow pace of key EPA appointments, including deputy administrator and various assistant administrators, a lack of experienced personnel at the White House, deep ideological divisions between the president's close advisers, and an "imperfect choice" of EPA administrator, as the main reasons Trump was not acting more aggressively on climate rules.
He said Trump strategists should have allowed his transition team to roll out the full de-regulatory agenda before Trump took office, instead of delaying. "The new president doesn’t have long before inertia sets in," he said.
He also found fault in Trump's choice of Pruitt to run the EPA, saying the former state attorney is a "clever lawyer" but his "political ambition" may distract him from taking-on time-consuming efforts like challenging the endangerment finding.
A spokesman for Pruitt responded to Ebell's assertions, saying Pruitt had been implementing Trump's executive orders and had spearheaded "about two dozen regulatory reform actions" since taking up his position.
Ebell also faulted Trump for choosing advisors with broadly different political perspectives and backgrounds—something he said was triggering paralyzing debate, instead of action.
"He’s got people on different sides and they are all fighting over who gets these jobs and nobody has the clout except the president to say, 'Hey fix this, let’s get this done,'" Ebell said.
In a statement given to Reuters on Saturday, Ebell said he is still concerned about the White House log-jam in nominating people for key EPA posts and the delay in making the Paris decision. But he said he supports Pruitt as an administrator and is encouraged by his recent actions.
"Pruitt was an excellent choice to head the EPA, and minor disagreements aside, his recent actions have made me even more confident that he will be an outstanding administrator," he said.
A White House official did not respond to a request for comment.
This article was provided by Reuters.