Environmental groups in Maine and around the country are condemning the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Over the past decade Pruitt has sued the EPA multiple times, challenging major environmental protections for clean water to standards that protect Americans from smog, haze and methane. He has also questioned the scientific basis of climate change, sending letters to the EPA written by oil and gas companies and calling the Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon pollution “unlawful and overreaching.”
Beth Ahearn of the Maine Conservation Voters says putting Pruitt in charge of the EPA would be like a “fox guarding the hen house.” And Lisa Pohlmann of the Natural Resources Council of Maine says the country needs to accelerate federal action to protect the environment and climate, not reverse direction.
They’re calling on U.S. Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins of Maine to reject Pruitt’s confirmation. The president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, Ken Kimmell, says if U.S. senators take the job of protecting the public seriously, they must vote no on Pruitt.
In a written statement, Kimmell said Pruitt’s statements and actions are “in direct conflict with the job to which he has been nominated … and would be devastating to the EPA’s ability to carry out its mission.”
