Trump to Nominate as Head of EPA Attorney General Who Acts Like Lobbyist for Energy Companies
Likely: Clean Air and Water Will Suffer, Healthcare Costs Will Rise, Children Especially Will Be Harmed
Donald Trump will nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt, a climate change “questioner,” was the focus of a 2014 New York Times investigation that accused him of being in a “secretive alliance” with energy companies. Pruitt has sued the EPA and even acted as if he were a lobbyist for the energy companies, whose actions the EPA regulates.Â
The nomination news comes just 48 hours after Trump met with Al Gore.
“The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma carried a blunt accusation,” the 2014 Times article begins. “Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.”
“But Mr. Pruitt left out one critical point. The three-page letter was written by lawyers for Devon Energy, one of Oklahoma’s biggest oil and gas companies, and was delivered to him by Devon’s chief of lobbying.”
The Times notes that attorneys general “in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year.”
Politico notes that Pruitt’s “nomination would put one of the country’s leading EPA critics at the helm of the agency. Pruitt has sued the agency over its water regulations and its climate change regulations for power plants.”
Trump has a long history of calling climate change a hoax:
We should be focused on clean and beautiful air-not expensive and business closing GLOBAL WARMING-a total hoax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2013
Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2014
Ice storm rolls from Texas to Tennessee – I’m in Los Angeles and it’s freezing. Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2013
The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012
Here’s some immediate reaction via Twitter:
Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt entered Trump Tower elevators 10:32 am. As AG, he sued the EPA on behalf of energy companies. Soon he may run EPA
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) December 7, 2016
Pruitt was caught red-handed taking Devon Energy’s EPA regulatory complaints and putting them on his stationary https://t.co/XYmFINuGhy https://t.co/qHc6AKYIoA
— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) December 7, 2016
Ultra-conservative, anti-regulation, pro-energy-industry. So, about what we all expected for EPA pick. https://t.co/jiTfAtQmAi
— David S. Bernstein (@dbernstein) December 7, 2016
Environmental advocates (NRDC) described Trump’s reported pick to head EPA (Pruitt, the oil state AG who has sued EPA), this way this week: pic.twitter.com/Luuzkf2BQ1
— Alexis Simendinger (@ASimendinger) December 7, 2016
Meet the EPA chief from a Fracked-out state who doesn’t believe in the effect of global warming. https://t.co/K9Zff50Bqt
— Andrew Cohen (@JustADCohen) December 7, 2016
#TrumpsAmerica Day 29, if you want clean air & water you’re gonna have to pay for it edition. https://t.co/oqzY3Kny7a
— Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) December 7, 2016
Â
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.
![]() |