The EPA has saddled farmers and ranchers with “burdensome, unnecessary and, too often, unlawful federal regulations,” said the American Farm Bureau Federation in calling for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to approve Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt to lead the agency. “We desperately need an administrator who understands the challenges our farmers and ranchers face in producing safe, wholesome and affordable food for our nation and the world.”
In a letter to committee leaders, the Farm Bureau says Pruitt, who filed suit to overturn the Waters of the United States, “will put EPA back on track and ensure that federal decisions are based on sound science, not politics.”
A group of six Democratic senators has called for Pruitt to disclose any ties to the oil and gas industry, said DTN. The senators said Pruitt “used, nearly verbatim, industry talking points” in correspondence to EPA over methane regulations. DTN said Pruitt’s “opposition to the Renewable Fuels Standard has raised concern in rural America,” yet he is welcomed as foe of over-regulation.