The new head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week that the agency’s critics are “justified” in wanting to disband it, said The Guardian.
“People across the country look at the EPA at the way they look at [the Internal Revenue Service]. We want to change that. There are a lot of changes that need to take place at my agency to restore the rule of law and federalism,” said Pruitt, blaming the EPA under Obama for “regulatory uncertainty” that made it difficult for business to operate and that infringed on state rights.
“Pruitt demurred when asked if the EPA should be abolished, citing the ‘very important work’ it does in water and air pollution that crosses state lines,” reported The Guardian. But the EPA chief said he intended to rein in the agency’s overreach.
While attorney general of Oklahoma, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times, including over former President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, meant to curb emissions, and the Waters of the United States rule (WOTUS), meant to give the EPA more power to reduce water pollution. Pruitt told the CPAC crowd that the Trump administration would “deal” with both.
After thousands of emails were released by the state of Oklahoma, showing a close relationship between Pruitt and the oil and gas industry, environmentalists fear that Pruitt is too biased to now regulate the same companies.