In this Thursday, March 10, 2016 photo, Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General, gestures as he speaks during an interview in Oklahoma City. The board that governs Oklahoma’s prison system has put off approving new execution procedures, ensuring at least a two-year delay in lethal injections in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the country, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016.(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Environmentalists are outraged over President-elect’s pick of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt — a known climate change skeptic — to head up the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump says Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt will restore the EPA’s “essential mission” of keeping the air and water clean and safe while ensuring the agency doesn’t spend tax money on what Trump calls an “out of control, anti-energy agenda.”
After word broke of the expected pick, environmental groups took a strong stand against Pruitt, describing him as a puppet of polluters.
Kim Lampkins spoke with Felicia Davis, one of the country’s leading African-American advocates for climate change awareness. Davis is director of the Building Green Initiative, based at Clark Atlanta University.
In reaction to Trump’s pick, renown environmental activist Eric Brockovich tweeted:
Scott Pruitt huh? If you live on the coast you may want to consider a boat for your next vehicle #climatechange https://t.co/kXuwKyAn3P #epa
— Erin Brockovich (@ErinBrockovich) December 7, 2016
Other Twitter reaction:
Trump's nominee to lead EPA, Scott Pruitt, is a climate denier who's worked closely with the fossil fuel industry. That's sad and dangerous.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 7, 2016
At the risk of being dramatic. Scott Pruitt at EPA is an existential threat to the planet
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 7, 2016
‘We didn’t vote for dirty air and dirty water’ – Sigourney Weaver isn’t happy with Scott Pruitt slated to run the EPA
— A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 8, 2016
