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Trump’s EPA pick reportedly a friend to fossil fuels

December 8, 2016 By    
Scott Pruitt

Scott Pruitt

President-elect Donald Trump plans to appoint Scott Pruitt, attorney general of Oklahoma, to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to multiple reports.

What does this selection mean for the propane industry? According to The New York Times, Pruitt is an ally of fossil fuels who has fought strongly against environmental regulations. Pruitt has also been a key architect of the legal battle against the Obama administration’s climate change policies, The New York Times adds.

In fact, Pruitt is currently suing EPA through a coalition of state attorneys general. According to The Washington Post, the lawsuit centers on EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which is designed to reduce electricity sector greenhouse gases. Pruitt also seeks to limit oil-and-gas methane emissions in another joint lawsuit.

“Pruitt is [an] excellent choice for EPA,” says Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, in a tweet. “He [and] I teamed up on many lawsuits against the EPA. He’ll bring needed change.”

The selection of Pruitt might even signal the end of the EPA, The New York Times writes, citing a Trump pledge to “get rid of it in almost every form.”

“You could see from [Pruitt] an increasing effort to delegate environmental regulations away from the federal government and towards the states,” says Ronald Keith Gaddie, a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, in The New York Times.

Not surprisingly, a number of environmentalists received the Pruitt announcement with opposition. Count Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who was outspoken on climate change during the presidential campaign, among the selection’s critics.

“Trump’s nominee to lead EPA, Scott Pruitt, is a climate denier who’s worked closely with the fossil fuel industry,” Sanders says in a tweet. “That’s sad and dangerous.”

About the Author:

Kevin Yanik was a senior editor at LP Gas Magazine.

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