Ohio Environmental Council’s Statement on Senate Committee’s Vote to Support Pruitt for EPA

Aryeh Alex, February 2, 2017

Today, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted without any Democrat in attendance to support the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response, the Ohio Environmental Council released the following statement:

“Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is unfit to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and will put the health of Ohioans at risk. He’s a well-documented oil and gas industry ally and advocate who is hostile to the EPA’s mission of protecting the environment and public health, including vital methane pollution standards that protect Ohio children with asthma.

“We are disappointed the Committee refused to reject his confirmation or heed his alarming record of opposing public health protections and pollution limits. Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman should insist on an EPA administrator who is free from conflicts of interest, guided by science, and committed to the agency’s mission of protecting public health. Scott Pruitt is not, and should not lead EPA.”