Scott Pruitt Confirmed by Senate to Head EPA

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The Environmental Protection Agency has a new administrator.

Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general and President Donald Trump’s first choice for the role, was confirmed today following a 52-46 Senate vote that fell mainly along party lines, with some exceptions.

In an odd twist of fate, the man who once sued the EPA multiple times is now the man running it.

In his role as AG, Pruitt was a staunch defender of his state’s oil and gas industry, frequently taking legal action to protect Oklahoma’s economy from policies he viewed as a threat. There was no love lost between Pruitt and the Obama administration, especially when it came to federal environmental initiatives. Naturally, political opponents and environmentalists see his elevation to EPA head as sign of relaxed regulations to come.

Pruitt’s swearing in should come soon.

Earlier this week, an EPA source told Reuters that the agency is expecting a series of executive orders. There was no word on what the nature of those orders would be. However, given some of Trump’s campaign trail promises, many expect Pruitt to roll back regulations on drilling and mining.

With this in mind, Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota voted in favor of Pruitt.

Yesterday, a judge ruled that Pruitt must release 3,000 emails sent between the Oklahoma AG’s office and oil and gas companies. The liberal nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy had sued to obtain the release.

While Pruitt’s new role may prove a good thing for miners, automobile manufacturers want to know what he can do for them. A total of 18 automakers with operations in the U.S. sent a letter to the Trump administration asking for the EPA’s midterm review process for fuel economy standards to be reset. To most automakers, the 54.5 mile-per-gallon target is too much to ask for.

Despite having a year left in the review timeline, the EPA pledged its support to keep Obama era fuel economy targets in place with just days remaining in the previous administration.

[Image: Gage Skidmore/ Flickr ( CC BY-SA 2.0)]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Funky Funky on Feb 20, 2017

    Please keep it going. This is all very entertaining and sometimes interesting. As others have stated, politics impact the automobile industry. Divergent threads/comments will sometimes occur when discussing politics. It is easy enough to skip over information/comments if one does not find them to be of interest (or palatable). No complaints here.

  • GeneralMalaise GeneralMalaise on Feb 21, 2017

    Al Franken - Jill Stein Franken-Stein in 2020!

  • CanadaCraig VOTE NO VW!
  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
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