No cabinet level choice by Donald Trump has riled progressive Democrats more that his decision to seek appointment of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Those looking for Trump to keep his campaign promises could not be happier about that decision.
Pruitt, the Republican Attorney General of Oklahoma has been a thorn in President Obama’s side for years as his frequent legal adversary. Not only has the soon to be head of the EPA opposed Obama on environmental issues but he has gone head to head with the Justice Department and the White House over everything from Obamacare to Transgender issues to immigration.
If confirmed by the Senate to oversee the 15,000-employee agency, Pruitt is sure to take the lead in dismantling EPA regulations that Trump has repeatedly identified as evidence of the kind of government overreach that inhibits economic growth.
Pruitt has led the legal battle against Obama’s landmark climate rule for power plants, standards for ground-level ozone pollution and water regulations.
It is no surprise that both Green Party environmentalists and leading Democrats were gearing up for a fight on Capitol Hill the moment Trump’s team made the official announcement.
A member of Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), said, “We’re certainly going to draw a line in the sand … This is the worst-case scenario when it comes to clean air and clean water, to nominate a climate denier to the agency charged with protecting our natural resources.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) promised, “There will be a fight” over his nomination, and added, “I think he has a record and it will be scrutinized, and there will be opposition there as a result.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said he would vigorously oppose Scott Pruitt.
As the Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt took a lead role with Republican attorneys general in challenging President Obama’s Clean Power Plan that ordered a 32% reduction in the energy sector’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. He argued that the plan would force the closure of numerous coal-powered power plants in his state and raise utility bills dramatically.
Speaking of that plan, Pruitt said this last September, “This is an effort that I think is extraordinary in cost, extraordinary in scope, and I think extraordinary as it relates to the intrusion into the sovereignty of the states.’’
Pruitt argues that the rule “coerces” states to reorganize their electricity systems and “commandeers” state resources to do that, in violation of the Constitution.
“It’s an invasion … of the state regulatory domain, and it’s something that is unique and breathtaking as it relates to the kind of rulemaking the EPA has engaged in historically,” he said.
On another environmental front, Pruitt has championed the fight against the Clean Water Rule (Waters of America), which claimed the Federal government has jurisdiction over smaller waterways like streams and wetlands.
In a court filing, he wrote last year, “This regulation usurps the state’s authority over its land and water use, and triggers numerous and costly obligations under the [Clean Water] Act for the state and its citizens.
Pruitt wrote a piece in the Tulsa Word that the debate over man-made climate change is far from settled” and that “scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind.” Along with another attorney general he wrote, “Reasonable minds can disagree about the science behind global warming, and disagree they do.”
In a National Review article co-authored with Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange he said, “Scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind. That debate should be encouraged — in classrooms, public forums, and the halls of Congress.”
Pruitt has served as Oklahoma’s attorney general since 2011 and is a close ally of Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe is equally despised by the left as the Senate’s most outspoken climate change skeptic.
The Republican is well-versed in environmental law, making him imminently qualified for the position. If confirmed, Pruitt has the know-how to slice through the bureaucratic quagmire to pull back on the EPA’s massive amounts of regulations. He faces a fight but if Republican leadership stands behind their next president, Scott Pruitt will no doubt make some much need changes at the EPA.
~Conseravtive Zone
