Trump to tap Oklahoma AG Pruitt to head EPA

Pruitt, who questions the impact of climate change, along with Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, penned an op-ed in the Tulsa World earlier this year that called criticism they’ve received “un-American”.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general and a champion of the oil and gas industry, to run the the Environmental Protection Agency – the federal office that enforces almost all laws that protect America’s air and water.

“Mr. Pruitt’s record is not only that of being a climate change denier, but also someone who has worked closely with the fossil fuel industry to make this country more dependent, not less, on fossil fuels”.

Pruitt is known for waging legal battles against the EPA over its climate change agenda, suggesting that Trump could intend to make good on his promise to “get rid of [the agency] in nearly every form”.

“That federal regulation really is the number one threat to Indiana’s coal industry right now, simply because IN is so heavily dependent upon coal”, Stevens says. He is an outspoken ally of the fossil fuel industry and as Oklahoma’s attorney general has repeatedly sued the EPA over protective policies, including regulations placed on the state’s coal-fired plants and on water regulations. Before he was chosen as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt served for eight years in the state Senate, where he was a “voice for fiscal responsibility, religious freedom and pro-life issues”, the biography adds. Without concerted regulatory efforts, climate change will cause irreparable harm to our public lands-the very same “beautiful natural resources” Trump claims to value.

Pruitt’s cooperation with the industry has been consistent through his tenure, a 2014 New York Times investigation found, with trade groups and companies joining his office in legal challenges and petitions against the EPA. Oklahoma is one of 18 states challenging that regulation in court.

“The three main reasons we oppose Attorney General Pruitt’s selection are his connections to big energy companies, his lack of action on Oklahoma earthquakes tied to oil production and his denial of climate change science”. Though he told the House subcommittee in May that some air and water quality issues require federal intervention, “the EPA was never meant to be our nation’s front line environmental regulator”. Environmental groups quickly denounced the choice. “We look forward to working with Mr. Pruitt on sensible climate regulations that promote the growth of abundant domestic energy sources like biomass power”.

“[Pruitt] has built his political career by trying to undermine EPA’s mission of environmental protection”, said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

“You can meet with Al Gore on Monday, pledge to keep Teddy Roosevelt’s environmental legacy alive on Tuesday, but if you nominate the Clean Power Act’s leading opponent to head the EPA on Wednesday, you’re making an unequivocal statement about the direction of your leadership”, she said.