In Pruitt Hearing for EPA Chief, His Fossil Fuel Ties Take Center Stage

"Oklahoma AG's Senate hearing on Wednesday may be among the toughest of Trump's nominees as environmentalists aim to muster fierce opposition."

"Among Donald Trump's cabinet nominees awaiting Senate confirmation, few are expected to face tougher scrutiny than Scott Pruitt, the president-elect's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency. The Oklahoma attorney general is a relentless adversary of that agency and its regulations, and he has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry he would be charged with overseeing.

In five years as chief law enforcer for his energy-rich state, Pruitt has transformed his office into a regiment in the war against federal regulation of industry. He has been a party to at least 14 lawsuits challenging the EPA's authority to impose rules on oil and gas production, vehicles and coal-fired electricity, helping to lead the campaign against President Barack Obama's signature climate initiative, the Clean Power Plan.

Pruitt will face tough questions, mostly from Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the panel weighing his nomination on Wednesday, on whether the fossil fuel industry's generous support for his political career would compromise his leadership of the EPA."

Marianne Lavelle reports for InsideClimate News January 17, 2017.

The hearing will be webcast live at 10 am ET from the committee channel.

SEE ALSO:

"Devon Energy Scripted Letters" (New York Times)

"At Scott Pruitt’s Confirmation Hearing, Science Will Be on Trial" (New Republic)

"EPA: Pruitt Supporters Raise Money — In Secret" (ClimateWire)

"Scott Pruitt Is Chief Target of Opposition to Trump’s Environmental Policy Plan" (Wall Street Journal)

"EPA Under Scott Pruitt Could Cost the U.S. Billions in Additional Health Care Costs" (The Intercept)

"EPA: Inside Pruitt's Conflicting Approaches To Okla. Energy Cases" (ClimateWire)

"The Truth About Pruitt’s EPA Lawsuits is Even Worse Than You Might Think" (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Press Release: "New Site Lays Bare EPA Nominee Scott Pruitt’s Tangled Web of Fundraising and Lawsuits" (EDF Action)