Trump picks fossil fuel ally to lead EPA

NEW YORK // Donald Trump yesterday picked Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, who is criticised as a climate change denier and a staunch fossil fuel ally, to lead the environmental protection agency.

“For too long, the environmental protection agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out- of- control anti- energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our incredible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Pruitt, 48, “will reverse this trend and restore the EPA’s essential mission of keeping our air and our water clean and safe”.

“My administration strongly believes in environmental protection, and Scott Pruitt will be a powerful advocate for that mission while promoting jobs, safety and opportunity,” he said. Opponents of Mr Trump’s choice say Mr Pruitt is anything but an environmental advocate, however, pointing out that he has spent much of his time as Oklahoma’s top law enforcement official battling the very agency he is now being nominated to lead.

“Mr Pruitt has spent the past several years fighting tooth and nail to help polluters erase or circumvent the critical environmental protections our nation has put in place,” Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives, said on Wednesday, as reports of Mr Pruitt’s nomination began to circulate.

“To put him in charge of the very agency he has worked to undermine is an affront to all Americans who care about the health of our air and water and the very real threat we face from climate change.”

Mr Pruitt’s official biography highlights his role as “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda”. In the past he has sued the EPA on behalf of Oklahoma utilities.

Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt is criticised as a climate change denier