Trump Announces He’ll Nominate Climate Denier Scott Pruitt To Lead EPA

In this Thursday, March 10, 2016 photo, Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General, gestures as he speaks during an interview in Oklahoma City. The board that governs Oklahoma's prison system has put off approving new e... In this Thursday, March 10, 2016 photo, Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General, gestures as he speaks during an interview in Oklahoma City. The board that governs Oklahoma's prison system has put off approving new execution procedures, ensuring at least a two-year delay in lethal injections in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the country, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) MORE LESS
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Donald Trump on Thursday morning formally announced that he will nominate Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

“For too long, the Environmental Protection Agency has spent taxpayer dollars on an out-of-control anti-energy agenda that has destroyed millions of jobs, while also undermining our incredible farmers and many other businesses and industries at every turn. As my EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, the highly respected Attorney General from the state of Oklahoma, will reverse this trend and restore the EPA’s essential mission of keeping our air and our water clean and safe,” Trump said in a statement. “My administration strongly believes in environmental protection, and Scott Pruitt will be a powerful advocate for that mission while promoting jobs, safety and opportunity.”

Pruitt is one of several state attorneys general currently suing the Obama Administration’s EPA Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing power plant carbon emissions. He has also denied that the science of climate change is settled, writing in the National Review this year that “scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connection to the actions of mankind.”

Democrats and environmental groups are already preparing to fight Pruitt’s nomination.

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