Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists have come out against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Politicians and activists say Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is a “climate denier” who is “unfit” to lead EPA. Trump’s transition team said Wednesday Pruitt will be their man at EPA, according to news reports.
“Pruitt is a climate science denier who, as AG for Oklahoma, regularly conspired with the fossil fuel industry to attack EPA safeguards”
— Sierra Club (@sierraclub) December 7, 2016
.@AGScottPruitt will make EPA stand for Every Polluters Ally. Denying #climatechange, carrying water for #BigOil make him unfit to lead @EPA
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) December 7, 2016
One Democratic operative even said Pruitt was a “threat to the planet.”
At the risk of being dramatic. Scott Pruitt at EPA is an existential threat to the planet
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 7, 2016
Pruitt, a Republican, has been a major critic of EPA regulations, and been involved in many legal challenges against the agency. Pruitt is currently party to legal challenges to two major EPA rules: the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Water Rule.
Activists say he will do the bidding of the fossil fuel industry — basing their claims on a New York Times report claiming Pruitt and other attorneys general collaborate with fossil fuel companies.
While activists are freaking out over Pruitt’s nomination, Trump has plans to move forward with rolling back EPA regulations blamed for hampering the coal industry.
Trump says he will refocus the EPA to its core mission protecting air and water, instead of focusing on man-made global warming.
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