Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump’s nominee for head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), might be confirmed Friday, but senators haven’t seen some 3,000 emails that disclose his ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Pruitt, Oklahoma’s Attorney General, is a controversial pick to lead the EPA. A staunch climate denier, he’s sued the agency 13 times. His close ties to the fossil fuel industry have caused environmental advocacy groups and Democrats in Congress to question his objectivity.
Since 2015, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has filed nine requests under the Open Records Act to obtain correspondence between fossil fuel companies and Pruitt’s office. Pruitt’s office promised to provide about 3,000 emails, but to date has delivered only 411.
CMD’s requests followed revelations in 2014 that Pruitt sent a letter to the EPA casting doubt on its methane pollution estimates. As it turned out, the letter had been almost entirely drafted by Devon Energy, an oil and gas company based in Pruitt’s home state.
Last week, CMD sued Pruitt’s office for failing to provide “prompt, reasonable access” to the records as requested. The ACLU filed a similar suit. An expedited hearing was set for today at 4:00.
Democratic senators have said that they won’t participate in the confirmation process until all relevant emails are released. And they expressed concern over the answers Pruitt offered in his hearing last month.
In a statement, they said:
“We gave Mr. Pruitt many opportunities to provide information to the Committee, including pre-hearing questions, the hearing itself, and post-hearing questions for the record to which Mr. Pruitt was required to submit written responses. Much of his testimony was evasive and many of his written answers non-responsive.”
Republican senators, on the other hand, remain unconcerned about getting the full story on Pruitt’s relationship to the industry he could soon be regulating. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote to confirm Pruitt on Friday.
Only one Republican senator, Maine’s Susan Collins, has expressed opposition to Pruitt’s nomination.
In an administration already wracked with controversy and scandal, Pruitt’s malfeasance has gotten relatively little attention. But if we’re to defend the environment against continued degradation, it’s important to organize against Pruitt and the rest of Trump’s climate-denying cronies.
Featured image via YouTube Video.
