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SEEC Co-Chairs Statement on the Nomination of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency

December 7, 2016

Today, President-Elect Trump nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency. SEEC Co-Chairs Gerry Connolly (VA), Doris Matsui (CA), and Paul Tonko (NY) released the following joint statement:

“We are extremely concerned by President-Elect Trump’s nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt has demonstrated time and again that he values his ties to the fossil fuels industry over any efforts to protect public health, safety, and the environment. Beyond his record of repeatedly trying to stymie and rollback important environmental protections, Pruitt is a climate change denier. Any individual that rejects the scientific consensus supporting climate action should have no place at the EPA–an agency charged with developing science-based protections for our health and environment. Congress has charged the EPA with the task of protecting our nation’s clean air and water for the benefit of our children and families. Based on Scott Pruitt’s record we have little faith in his ability to fulfill the EPA’s lifesaving mission, and his nomination must be opposed.”