{"id":112044,"date":"2016-12-08T14:44:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T19:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=112044"},"modified":"2016-12-08T14:44:03","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T19:44:03","slug":"trump-nominates-oklahoma-ag-pruitt-to-head-epa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2016\/12\/trump-nominates-oklahoma-ag-pruitt-to-head-epa\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Nominates Oklahoma AG Pruitt to Head EPA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The big-oil friendly AG has sued the agency repeatedly during his tenure and suggests that debate on climate change is \u201cfar from settled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pruitt is Trump\u2019s third agency head nominee \u2013 joining Housing and Urban Development Secretary nominee Ben Carson and Education Secretary nominee Betsey DeVos \u2013 to have deep philosophical differences about the mission of the agency that person will head.<\/p>\n

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The Journal of Record!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe American people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from our economy due to unnecessary EPA regulations, and I intend to run this agency in a way that fosters both responsible protection of the environment and freedom for American businesses,\u201d said Pruitt in the statement announcing his nomination.<\/p>\n

If confirmed by Congress, the self-described opponent of the \u201cEPA\u2019s activist agenda\u201d is likely to begin dismantling many of the programs put in place by the Obama administration, including the current corporate average fuel economy standards requiring automakers to achieve a fleet-wide fuel economy average of 54.5 mpg by 2025.<\/p>\n

The agency is undertaking an effort to cement those rules before Trump is inaugurated next month over the objections of automakers claiming the move is unfair and eliminates the mid-term evaluation aimed to giving the companies a chance to voice opposition to the current benchmark.<\/p>\n

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers CEO Mitch Bainwol told Automotive News the group hopes to work with Pruitt on the mid-term evaluation \u201cis completed thoroughly and with close attention to achieving a balanced outcome so that we can continue to achieve gains in fuel efficiency and carbon reduction while also protecting customer affordability and auto-dependent jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pruitt has sued the EPA repeatedly, believing the agency has overstepped its authority.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

AAM represents 12 automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and several foreign car companies.<\/p>\n

(To see more about Mary Barra new role helping the incoming Trump administration,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Click Here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While Trump has said very little about his plans for the CAFE standards during the campaign and then time since his election, one of his overarching themes is that he will cut down on the number of regulations that industries must deal with today.<\/p>\n

In the Pruitt announcement, it appears he plans to stick to those ideals.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 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,\u201d Trump said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Pruitt \u201cwill reverse this trend and restore the EPA\u2019s essential mission of keeping our air and our water clean and safe.\u201d Trump added, \u201cMy administration \u201cstrongly believes in environmental protection, and Scott Pruitt will be a powerful advocate for that mission while promoting jobs, safety and opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pruitt\u2019s critics are not so sure.<\/p>\n

(To see more about Trump rethinking his plans for NAFTA,\u00a0<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cScott Pruitt would have EPA stand for Every Polluter\u2019s Ally,\u201d said Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who has been active in support of the EPA environmental efforts.<\/p>\n

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, was equally displeased, suggesting that Pruitt leading the agency was \u201clike putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires,\u201d according to the Washington Post.<\/p>\n

The Oklahoma Attorney General has filed suit against the EPA over: the Clean Power Plan, which limits greenhouse gas emissions from power plants; extending the reach of the Clean Water Act to cover more waterways; and for being sued by environmental advocacy groups, alleging the agency encourages the suits to help form policy.<\/p>\n

Pruitt acknowledges the agency is supposed to help resolve air and water quality issues that cross state lines, but adds, \u201cAt the same time, the EPA was never intended to be our nation\u2019s foremost environmental regulator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cScott Pruitt has a record of attacking the environmental protections that EPA is charged with enforcing. He has built his political career by trying to undermine EPA\u2019s mission of environmental protection,\u201d said Fred Krupp,\u00a0president of the Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement.<\/p>\n

(<\/em>Click Here<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for details about Ford CEO Mark Fields warning about the impact of Trump\u2019s proposed trade policies.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur country needs \u2014\u00a0and deserves \u2014\u00a0an EPA administrator who is guided by science, who respects America\u2019s environmental laws, and who values protecting the health and safety of all Americans ahead of the lobbying agenda of special interests.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, is a big-oil friendly attorney general who has sued the agency repeatedly claiming it has overstepped its authority. Find out more at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4389,"featured_media":112042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112044"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=112044"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=112044"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=112044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}