Is American Enterprise More Powerful Than The President Of The United States?

President-elect Donald Trump(R) and Vice President-elect Governor Mike Pence visit the Carrier air conditioning and heating company in Indianapolis, Indiana on December 1, 2016. / AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

By his own admission, Donald Trump says that he will jolt Washington’s power elite. But some are questioning his ascendancy to the U.S. presidency, saying that he is a threat to democracy generally and to the environment specifically.

The real checks-and-balances, though, may not come from the legislative branch that seems cowed by his presence but from American enterprise, which may actually wield more power than the president of the United States. A lot is at stake here, not the least of which is the integrity of the American soul.

Clearly, presidents have the right to appoint those to key positions that they feel will carry out their political promises and the policies they believe will move the country forward. The push and pull between conservatives and liberals over environmental policy is a healthy exercise. And while it may be a contentious process, it often to leads to sound governing principles.

But Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency seems to belie that ideal. As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Scott Pruitt took on the EPA, representing his state’s oil and gas interest. But now his job is to safeguard the American public and to properly regulate those businesses — not to become a lackey for any interest group, much less the oil and gas lobby.

It’s especially troublesome as more and more companies — including those major oil conglomerates such as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell — have come out in favor of a global climate pact to curb carbon output. That’s because they are investing wind and solar technologies, as well as energy storage devices, which could become notable parts of their business