Scott Pruitt sued the EPA a dozen times as Oklahoma attorney general, so “no one is surprised” that he “is steadfastly rolling back many of the regulations he fought in court,” says the Oklahoman. Critics and supporters share the view that Pruitt “is operating with an efficiency and zeal beyond that of his predecessors.”
A former regional administrator for EPA told the Oklahoma City newspaper that Pruitt is unique: “I’m not aware there’s ever been an environmental administrator with an agenda to roll back environmental regulations one after another.” The president of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association says Pruitt “hit the ground running.” In an interview with the Oklahoman, Pruitt said criticism among conservatives of the EPA was deserved — “the oppressiveness and the paternalism and the use of regulatory power to pick winners and losers.”
Pruitt said he decided to allow the pesticide chlorpyrifos to remain in agricultural use after reviewing studies of the chemical and noting USDA disagreed with EPA scientists. “You don’t do these things lightly,” he told the Oklahoman about his decision-making process.
The EPA administrator has suggested that a debate of humankind’s role in climate change is appropriate. The Oklahoman noted, “Environmentalists have placed their faith in federal courts to stop, or at least slow, Pruitt, just as Pruitt used the judiciary to hinder Obama’s EPA while attorney general. The irony does not escape them.”
During a trip to the Oklahoma panhandle, Pruitt scoffed at speculation he will run for governor in 2018 or the Senate in 2020, saying the capital was a poor base for a statewide race. Asked if he would remain in the administration for four years, Pruitt declined to speculate. “I’ll do it as long as the Lord calls me to and as long as the president wants me to do it,” he said.