» Senate approves Pruitt as EPA administrator
Majority leader lauds Oklahoma attorney general.
The Senate on Friday confirmed Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency, putting a seasoned legal opponent of the agency at the helm of President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle major regulations on climate change and clean water and to cut the size — and authority of the government’s environmental enforcer.
Senators voted 52-46 to confirm Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general who has built a career out of suing to block the EPA’s major envi- ronmental rules and has called for the dissolution of much of the agency’s author- ity. One Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, crossed party lines to vote against Pruitt, while two Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota — both from coal mining states where voters generally oppose environmental rules — voted for him.
Senate Democrats railed all night on the Senate floor against Pruitt and urged Sen- ate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the confirmation vote until after Tuesday, when the Oklahoma attorney general’s office is under order to release about 3,000 of Pruitt’s emails related to his communications with the fossil fuel industry.
But the effort did little but deprive the Democrats of sleep.
Democrats, environmen- tal groups and even current EPA employees have criticized Pruitt’s record of fight- ing the mission of the agency he will now lead, as well as his close ties with the fossil fuel industry he will now regulate. Both opponents and supporters of Pruitt say he is well positioned to carry out Trump’s campaign trail promises to dismantle the agency and slash its ranks of employees. Trump vowed to “get rid” of the agency “in almost every form.”
Many coal, oil and gas company lobbyists have been among Pruitt’s larg- est campaign contributors. Pruitt also worked jointly with those companies in fil- ing multiple lawsuits against major EPA regulations.
Democrats said the emails to be released Tuesday could reveal more, and possibly disqualifying, information about those relationships.
During the Obama admin- istration, McConnell became a leading opponent of the president’s climate change agenda, particularly its cen- terpiece, a set of EPA regulations intended to shut down heavily polluting coal-fired power plants and replace them with wind and solar power. Those rules, if enacted, could dispropor- tionately hurt the economy of McConnell’s coal-rich state.
Pruitt, who has expressed skepticism about humancaused global warming, has been a key architect of the legal battle to overturn the rules.
“Pruitt is just the candidate we need at the helm of the EPA,” McConnell said. “He’s exceptionally qualified. He’s dedicated to environmental protection. And, as someone with state government experience, he understands the real-world consequences of EPA actions and knows that balance is the key to making policies that are sustainable over the long term.”
McConnell added: “We should confirm him. Doing so will represent another positive change in Washington that can give hope to families in Kentucky and across the nation who are still recovering from the last eight years.”
Within days of Pruitt’s swearing-in, Trump is expected to sign one or more executive orders aimed at undoing President Barack Obama’s climate change policies, people familiar with the White House’s plans said.