EPA nominee bad for our economy, health
Oklahoma AG will favor polluters, hamper NM’s clean energy industry
In our state, the clean energy economy isn’t just the future – it’s the present.
We already see clean energy providing jobs, saving families money and making our nation more secure. And we know we’ve only begun to scratch the surface.
So it was extremely disturbing when President-elect Donald Trump named Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency.
Pruitt has repeatedly sued to block standards that would reduce pollution and boost clean energy. He has made a career of backing policies designed to prop up big energy and hold the clean energy economy back.
His nomination suggests that the Trump administration does not understand either the potential the clean energy economy has for the future, nor its growing role in America and our state, right now.
Millions of Americans now work in the industry. Indeed, more Americans work in solar today than in coal mining and oil and gas extraction combined.
The clean energy market grew by 14 percent in 2014 alone — that’s roughly five times the rate of the overall economy. That surge brought its total worth to around $200 billion.
In 2015, the solar industry in New Mexico increased by 18.5 percent, with nearly 2,000 residents currently employed by the growing industry. For 2017, our state’s renewable sector is projected to grow at a rate 13 times faster than the general workforce economy
These are jobs right here in our state, and they cannot be shipped overseas. These are the kinds of jobs that are good for New Mexicans and for all Americans.
In addition to all of the above, Pruitt has an abysmal track record when it comes to people’s health: He has made a career out of suing the EPA to force them to abandon essential safeguards for the nation’s water and air, and to make it easier for big companies to pollute.
He opposed basic protections for American families — protections against the air pollution that causes asthma, and toxic mercury that damages brain development in children.
Since he became Oklahoma’s attorney general five years ago, Pruitt has worked to stop national efforts to reduce soot and smog pollution that cross interstate lines. He tried to block efforts to improve air quality in our national parks.
Air quality must be a priority in our state. The American Lung Association recently assigned San Juan, Eddy and a handful of other counties failing grades for smog pollution in their State of the Air Report.
According to this report, the health of over 1 million residents is subjected to unacceptable levels of smog pollution — half of our entire state’s population.
Good jobs, breathable air and drinkable water aren’t partisan concerns — a recent poll found a whopping 75 percent of Trump voters support clean energy, and the numbers are similar for non-Trump voters as well.
No one voted for Trump because they want more pollution in their hometown, but Pruitt’s nomination suggests Trump’s administration is woefully out of touch with these basic American concerns.
Real jobs, and real health consequences, are on the line. Scott Pruitt is the wrong person to head the EPA.
We need leaders ready to support energy policies that protect our health, water and air, and make investments in the 21st century economy of clean and renewable energy.