Investigating Power
Newly installed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt closely coordinated with major oil and gas companies, refiners and groups linked to the billionaire Koch brothers to combat environmental regulations during his time as Oklahoma attorney general, according to thousands of pages of e-mails released Wednesday.
Many of the regulations discussed in the emails still sit before EPA today, putting them squarely in Pruitt’s lap.
If you missed Rachel’s coverage of this last week, it’s a doozy of a story. Pruitt, in effect, was illegally hiding official emails that documented his cooperation with the oil and gas industries – the industries he’ll ostensibly help oversee as the head of the EPA. The Center for Media and Democracy filed suit to obtain the emails Pruitt wanted to hide, and last week, a judge ordered their release.
Emails released Tuesday night illustrate the remarkably close relationship between EPA head Scott Pruitt and the oil and gas industry while he served as Oklahoma’s attorney general. The emails were made public as the result of a lawsuit and open records request by the Center for Media and Democracy only days after Pruitt was confirmed to lead an agency he has long fought to undermine.
Emails from new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s tenure as Oklahoma attorney general reveal several instances of coordination between his office and oil interests in his state.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has published thousands of emails obtained from the office of former Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt, who was recently sworn in as the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Trump Administration.
The new EPA chief had a “very cozy” relationship with fossil fuel.
US President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt was ordered by Oklahoma County District Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons on Thursday (16 February) to hand over at least 3,000 requested emails to the watchdog Centre for Media and Democracy (CMD).
The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, giving Trump a lieutenant poised to make deep cuts to the EPA and transfer some if [sic] its enforcement responsibilities to states and localities.
In his first interview as EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt made one thing very clear: the Clean Power Plan, the signature climate regulation of the Obama administration, is not long for this world.