Pruitt OK’d as EPA chief over environmentalists’ objections
WASHINGTON — Over the strong objections of environmental groups, the Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, giving President Donald Trump an eager partner to fulfil his campaign pledge to increase the use of planet-warming fossil fuels.
Pruitt was sworn in later Friday by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
In six years as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt filed 14 lawsuits challenging EPA regulations that included limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He also sued over the EPA’s recent expansion of water bodies regulated under the Clean Water Act, a federal measure opposed by industries that would be forced to clean up polluted wastewater.
Pruitt submitted his resignation as attorney general to Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Friday.